Molecular Detection of Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae and Ehrlichia sp. in Amblyomma pseudoconcolor Aragão, 1908 (Acari: Ixodidae) from the Argentinian Patagonia

SEBASTIAN, PATRICK STEPHAN; TARRAGONA, EVELINA LUISA; ABATE, SERGIO DAMIÁN; WINTER, MARINA; NAVA, SANTIAGO

Animals

Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute

Año: 2022 vol. 12

2076-2615

This study presents the molecular detection of Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae and Ehrlichiasp. in Amblyomma pseudoconcolor Aragão, 1908 (Acari: Ixodidae) collected on a large hairy armadillo(Chaetophractus villosus (Desmarest, 1804)). On 12 October 2020, a specimen of C. villosus was founddead on the road in Río Negro province, Argentina. Molecular detection of Rickettsia and Ehrlichiaagents was performed amplifying the gltA and 16S rRNA gene, respectively. One tick, determinedmorphologically and genetically as A. pseudoconcolor, was collected on C. villosus. The rickettsial agentdetected in A. pseudoconcolor was identified as Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae. The Ehrlichia sp. strainshowed high sequence similarity to different uncultured Ehrlichia sp. detected in horses, capybarasand Ixodes ornithorhynchi from Nicaragua, Brazil and Australia, respectively. The results of this studyand previous findings suggest that A. pseudoconcolor may be a potential vector of some Rickettsia andEhrlichia bacteria of unknown pathogenicity.