RESUMEN
Tick-borne diseases usually comprise a complex epidemiological and ecological network connecting the vector, pathogen, and a group of host species. Symptoms associated with Lyme disease have been reported in Brazil, but no Borrelia sp. has been definitively related to these events. Here we have identified a B. lonestari/B. theileri-related spirochete DNA in the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus from Brazil. Four hundred R. microplus and 80 Amblyomma cajennense ticks were screened, and only 1 horse-fed R. microplus was infected. A Borrelia sp. 16S rDNA sequence was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from the total tick DNA with 99% similarity to B. theileri and B. lonestari. Partial flaB sequence was also obtained, demonstrating 96% similarity to the B. lonestari flagellin gene, and the resultant putative amino acid sequence demonstrated 97% identity to B. lonestari flagellin. Moreover, partial glpQ sequence demonstrated 92% similarity to the B. lonestari gene, with a putative amino acid sequence 90% identical to the B. lonestari glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase. Phylogenetic analyses clearly include this Brazilian Borrelia sp., denoted "Borrelia," sp-BR in a group of spirochetes aligned with B. theileri and B. lonestari. Thus, hard tick relapsing fever group spirochetes represent a clade of widespread bacteria and herein we describe the first molecular identification of a Borrelia sp. in South America.
Asunto(s)
Vectores Arácnidos/microbiología , Borrelia/aislamiento & purificación , Fiebre Recurrente/microbiología , Rhipicephalus/microbiología , Animales , Proteínas Bacterianas/genética , Borrelia/clasificación , Borrelia/genética , Brasil , Bovinos , Femenino , Flagelina/genética , Caballos , Ixodidae/microbiología , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Hidrolasas Diéster Fosfóricas/genética , Filogenia , ARN Ribosómico 16S/genética , Fiebre Recurrente/transmisión , Homología de Secuencia de Aminoácido , Homología de Secuencia de Ácido Nucleico , Infestaciones por Garrapatas/microbiologíaRESUMEN
Se ha comprobado que en Panamá las garrapatas intervienen en diversos problemas de la salud humana y de los animales, no obstante, poca es la información que sobre dichos artrópodos y su ecología está a disposición del personal médico nacional. En este trabajo se exponen algunos conceptos generales sobre la biología de las garrapatas; y, asimismo, se describe someramente la epidemiología de las enfermedades que son transmitidas por ellas al ser humano en el país