Table 2.

Identity rates of the genes from the identified strains with various validated or unvalidated Rickettsia spp.

Strains	Gene	gltA	rrs	ompA	ompB	sca4
Huaian-HF	Size	1,290 bp	1,331 bp	575 bp	4,807 bp	3,035 bp
	Highest Identity Rate	98.84% to R. peacockii strain Rustic; 99.92% to Candidatus R. principis (96% coverage)	99.32% to R. slovaca strain D-CWPP and R. rhipicephali strain HJ#5	95.37% to R. parkeri strains Atlantic Rainforest and Black Gap (80% coverage)	94.82% R. rhipicephali strain HJ#5	97.79% R. slovaca str. D-CWPP
Huaian-HFL	Size	1,289 bp	1,331 bp	632 bp	4,856 bp	2,993 bp
	Highest Identity Rate	99.77% to R. heilongjiangensis 054; 99.69% to R. japonica YH_M	99.92% and 100% to R. japonica YH_M and strain Shandong J71, respectively; 99.85% to R. heilongjiangensis 054	98.10% to R. heilongjiangensis strain CH8-1; 97.15% to R. japonica YH_M; 100% to various R. japonica strains Shandong J68 to J75	99.03% to R. heilongjiangensis 054; 98.65% to R. japonica YH_M	99.63% to R. heilongjiangensis 054; 99.50% to R. japonica YH_M
Huaian-RM	Size	1,260 bp	1,331 bp	523 bp	4,842 bp	2,660 bp
	Highest Identity Rate	99.60% to R. heilongjiangensis 054; 99.52% to R. japonica YH_M	99.70% to R. japonica YH_M; 99.77% to Candidatus R. longicornii isolate GD02	94.87% to R. heilongjiangensis 054; 100% to Candidatus R. longicornii and Candidatus R. jingxinensis isolate Rm1	98% to R. japonica strains HH-16 to 18	98.5% to R. japonica YH_M
Novel species Criteria	Identity Rates (Fournier et al., 2003)	<99.9%	<99.8	<98.8	<99.2	<99.3