Affiliation:
1. Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Skip Bertman Drive, SVM-3213, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
2. Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University, LSB-413, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Rickettsia felis
, the etiologic agent of spotted fever, is maintained in cat fleas by vertical transmission and resembles other tick-borne spotted fever group rickettsiae. In the present study, we utilized an
Ixodes scapularis
-derived tick cell line, ISE6, to achieve isolation and propagation of
R. felis
. A cytopathic effect of increased vacuolization was commonly observed in
R. felis
-infected cells, while lysis of host cells was not evident despite large numbers of rickettsiae. Electron microscopy identified rickettsia-like organisms in ISE6 cells, and sequence analyses of portions of the citrate synthase (
gltA
), 16S rRNA,
Rickettsia
genus-specific 17-kDa antigen, and spotted fever group-specific outer membrane protein A (
ompA
) genes and, notably,
R. felis
conjugative plasmids indicate that this cultivatable strain (LSU) was
R. felis
. Establishment of
R. felis
(LSU) in a tick-derived cell line provides an alternative and promising system for the expansion of studies investigating the interactions between
R. felis
and arthropod hosts.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology
Cited by
73 articles.
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