Table. PCR survey results for Haemaphysalis, Amblyomma, and Ixodes spp. ticks tested for rickettsiae, central and western Japan, 2007–2011*.
| Tick species | No. ticks tested | Total no. (%) ticks positive | No. (%) ticks positive for |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rickettsia gltA, by species group† |
A. phagocytophilum p44/msp2‡ | Ehrlichia p28/omp-1§ | |||||||
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | |||||
| H. formosensis | 224 | 6 (2.7) | 1 (0.4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (2.2) | 18 (8) | 0 |
| H. hystricis | 97 | 19 (19.6) | 6 (6.1) | 0 | 0 | 13 (13.4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| H. longicornis | 294 | 119 (40.5) | 0 | 0 | 119 (40.5) | 0 | 0 | 2 (0.7) | 1 (0.4) |
| H. flava | 55 | 6 (10.9) | 0 | 0 | 2 (3.6) | 0 | 4 (7.3) | 0 | 0 |
| H. kitaokai | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| H. megaspinosa | 18 | 4 (22.2) | 0 | 0 | 4 (22.2) | 0 | 0 | 1 (5.6) | 0 |
| H. cornigera | 11 | 1 (9.1) | 1 (9.1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. testudinarium | 112 | 26 (23.2) | 0 | 26 (23.2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (2.7) | 1 (0.9) |
| A. geoemydae | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| I. ovatus | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (20.0) | 0 |
| Total | 827 | 181 (21.9) | 8 (1.0) | 26 (3.1) | 125 (15.1) | 13 (1.6) | 9 (1.1) | 25 (3.0) | 2 (0.2) |
*DNA was extracted from the salivary glands of each tick by using the DNeasy Mini Kit (QIAGEN Sciences, Germantown, MD, USA) and used as a template for PCR. The newly identified sequences of gltA, 16S rDNA, ompA, p44/msp2, and p28/omp-1 in this study were deposited into GenBank under accession nos. JQ697880–JQ697959. A. phagocytophilum, Anaplasma phagocytophilum. †The PCR primers used, gltA–Fc (5′-CGAACTTACCGCTATTAGAATG-3′) and gltA–Rc (5′-CTTTAAGAGCGATAGCTTCAAG-3′), were designed in this study. Groups: 1, Rickettsia japonica YH (GenBank accession no. AP011533); 2, R. tamurae (GenBank accession no. AF394896); 3, Rickettsia sp. LON-13 (GenBank accession no. AB516964); 4, Rickettsia sp. Hf151; 5, other rickettsiae. ‡PCR primers of p3726 (5′-GCTAAGGAGTTAGCTTATGA-3′), p3761 (5′-CTGCTCT[T/G]GCCAA(AG)ACCTC-3′, p4183 (5′-CAATAGT[C/T]TTAGCTAGTAACC-3′), and p4257 (5′-AGAAGATCATAACAAGCATTG-3′) were used for detection of p44/msp2. §PCR primers conP28-F1 (5′-AT[C/T]AGTG[G/C]AAA[A/G]TA[T/C][A/G]T[G/A]CCAA-3′), conP28-F2 (5′-CAATGG[A/G][T/A]GG[T/C]CC[A/C]AGA[A/G]TAG-3′), conP28-R1 (5′-TTA[G/A]AA[A/G]G[C/T]AAA[C/T]CT[T/G]CCTCC-3′), and conP28-R2 (5′-TTCC[T/C]TG[A/G]TA[A/G]G[A/C]AA[T/G]TTTAGG-3′) were used to detect p28/omp-1.