Department of Basic Medicine, School of Medicine, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, Xinjiang, Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal & Science, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
Parasit Vectors. 2021 Apr 19;14(1):204. doi: 10.1186/s13071-021-04718-1.
Previously, twelve Rickettsia species were identified in ticks, fleas, sheep keds (Melophagus ovinus), bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and a tick-bitten patient in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwestern China. Here we aimed to molecularly detect rickettsial agents in red fox (Vulpes vulpes), marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna) and their ticks.
During 2018-2019, 12 red foxes, one marbled polecat and their ticks were sampled in two counties and a city of the XUAR. The heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney of these 13 carnivores were dissected, followed by DNA extraction. Hard ticks were identified both morphologically and molecularly. All samples were examined for the presence of rickettsiae by amplifying four genetic markers (17-kDa, gltA, ompA, sca1).
A total of 26 adult ticks and 28 nymphs (38 Ixodes canisuga, nine Ixodes kaiseri, six Haemaphysalis erinacei and one Dermacentor marginatus) were collected from red foxes, and four Ha. erinacei ticks were removed from the marbled polecat. Analysis of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences indicated that 2-32 nucleotides differed between I. canisuga, I. kaiseri and Ha. erinacei from northwestern China and Europe. Rickettsia raoultii was detected in three red foxes, Candidatus Rickettsia barbariae in a red fox, Rickettsia sibirica in a red fox and a marbled polecat, and R. raoultii in two tick species (I. canisuga and D. marginatus).
To the best of our knowledge, I. canisuga and I. kaiseri have not been previously reported from red foxes in China. The DNA of R. sibirica and R. raoultii was detected for the first time in the organs of red foxes, and R. sibirica in the organs of a marbled polecat. This is also the first molecular evidence for the presence of R. raoultii in I. canisuga. Our findings expand the range of tick-borne pathogens in wildlife species and associated ticks in China.
此前，在中国西北部的新疆维吾尔自治区（XUAR），已从蜱、跳蚤、绵羊虻（Melophagus ovinus）、蝙蝠（Pipistrellus pipistrellus）和一名被蜱叮咬的患者中鉴定出 12 种立克次体。在此，我们旨在通过分子检测方法来检测新疆红狐（Vulpes vulpes）、麻斑鼬（Vormela peregusna）及其蜱中的立克次体病原体。
2018-2019 年，在 XUAR 的两个县和一个市采集了 12 只红狐、1 只麻斑鼬及其蜱。解剖这些 13 只食肉动物的心脏、肝脏、脾脏、肺和肾脏，随后提取 DNA。通过形态学和分子学鉴定硬蜱。用扩增四个遗传标记（17-kDa、gltA、ompA、sca1）的方法检测所有样本中是否存在立克次体。
从红狐身上共采集到 26 只成蜱和 28 只若虫（38 只伊氏革蜱、9 只璃眼蜱、6 只嗜群血蜱和 1 只边缘革蜱），从麻斑鼬身上采集到 4 只嗜群血蜱。细胞色素 c 氧化酶亚单位 I（COI）基因序列分析表明，来自中国西北部和欧洲的伊氏革蜱、璃眼蜱和嗜群血蜱之间存在 2-32 个核苷酸差异。在 3 只红狐中检测到拉乌尔立克次体，在 1 只红狐中检测到巴尔通体，在 1 只红狐和 1 只麻斑鼬中检测到西伯利亚立克次体，在 2 种蜱（伊氏革蜱和边缘革蜱）中检测到拉乌尔立克次体。
据我们所知，伊氏革蜱和璃眼蜱此前并未在中国的红狐中报道过。首次在红狐的器官中检测到西伯利亚立克次体和拉乌尔立克次体的 DNA，在麻斑鼬的器官中检测到拉乌尔立克次体。这也是拉乌尔立克次体存在于伊氏革蜱中的首次分子证据。我们的研究结果扩大了中国野生动物物种及其相关蜱类传播的病原体范围。
