TY - JOUR
T1 - An emerging tick-borne disease of humans is caused by a subset of strains with conserved genome structure
AU - Barbet, Anthony F.
AU - Al-Khedery, Basima
AU - Stuen, Snorre
AU - Granquist, Erik G.
AU - Felsheim, Roderick F.
AU - Munderloh, Ulrike G
PY - 2013/8/10
Y1 - 2013/8/10
N2 - The prevalence of tick-borne diseases is increasing worldwide. One such emerging disease is human anaplasmosis. The causative organism, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, is known to infect multiple animal species and cause human fatalities in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Although long known to infect ruminants, it is unclear why there are increasing numbers of human infections. We analyzed the genome sequences of strains infecting humans, animals and ticks from diverse geographic locations. Despite extensive variability amongst these strains, those infecting humans had conserved genome structure including the pfam01617 superfamily that encodes the major, neutralization-sensitive, surface antigen. These data provide potential targets to identify human-infective strains and have significance for understanding the selective pressures that lead to emergence of disease in new species.
AB - The prevalence of tick-borne diseases is increasing worldwide. One such emerging disease is human anaplasmosis. The causative organism, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, is known to infect multiple animal species and cause human fatalities in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Although long known to infect ruminants, it is unclear why there are increasing numbers of human infections. We analyzed the genome sequences of strains infecting humans, animals and ticks from diverse geographic locations. Despite extensive variability amongst these strains, those infecting humans had conserved genome structure including the pfam01617 superfamily that encodes the major, neutralization-sensitive, surface antigen. These data provide potential targets to identify human-infective strains and have significance for understanding the selective pressures that lead to emergence of disease in new species.
KW - Anaplasmosis
KW - Comparative genomics
KW - High-throughput sequencing
KW - Msp2/p44
KW - Pfam01617
KW - Tick-borne diseases
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84899425389&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84899425389&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/pathogens2030544
DO - 10.3390/pathogens2030544
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84899425389
SN - 2076-0817
VL - 2
SP - 544
EP - 555
JO - Pathogens
JF - Pathogens
IS - 3
ER -