Mongruel Anna Claudia Baumel, Medici Emília Patrícia, Canena Ariel Costa, Cordova Amir Salvador Alabi, Freitas das Neves Lorena, Franco Eliz de Oliveira, Machado Rosangela Zacarias, André Marcos Rogério
Vector-Borne Bioagents Laboratory (VBBL), Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV), Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP) - Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil.
Iniciativa Nacional para Conservação da Anta Brasileira (INCAB), Instituto de, Pesquisas Ecológicas (IPÊ) - Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil; Escola Superior de Conservação Ambiental e Sustentabilidade (ESCAS/IPÊ) - Nazaré, Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil; Tapir Specialist Group (TSG), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, SSC) - Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
Acta Trop. 2024 Dec;260:107476. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107476. Epub 2024 Nov 27.
Although vector-borne agents have been detected in different species of wild animals, studies involving tapirs (Tapirus terrestris), the largest land mammals in Brazil, are scarce. The aim of the present study was to investigate the occurrence and molecular identity of Anaplasmataceae agents, Coxiella burnetii and Hepatozoon spp. in blood samples of wild T. terrestris from two biomes (Cerrado and Pantanal) in Brazil. A total of 122 blood samples from 99 tapirs were analyzed. Sixty-one tapirs were sampled in Pantanal, whereas 38 were from Cerrado biome. DNA was extracted from blood samples and subjected to conventional and/or quantitative PCR assays for molecular screening and characterization of DNA from Anaplasmataceae agents (Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Neorickettsia), C. burnetii and Hepatozoon spp. None of the samples were positive for Ehrlichia, C. burnetii or Hepatozoon spp. Twenty-two samples (22/122; 18%) amplified fragments from the expected size for the Anaplasma 16S rRNA fragment tested herein. Out of these samples, 2 (9.1%) presented amplification for the Anaplasma ITS 23S-5S. Nine positive samples for the 16S rRNA assay were selected for cloning and sequencing. Phylogenetically, distance and haplotype analyses based on large fragments (>1,200 bp) of the 16S rRNA suggest that tapir-related Anaplasma and Anaplasma odocoilei are genetically similar species. Moreover, 31 (25.4%) samples were positive for Neorickettsia based on amplification of partial 16S rRNA. Phylogenetic assessment of the three obtained sequences demonstrated relatedness to Neorickettsia risticii, the causative of Potomac fever in horses. This is the first report of Neorickettsia sp. and description of a new Anaplasma genotype in tapirs.
尽管在不同种类的野生动物中已检测到媒介传播病原体，但涉及巴西最大的陆地哺乳动物貘（南美貘）的研究却很稀少。本研究的目的是调查巴西两个生物群落（塞拉多和潘塔纳尔湿地）野生南美貘血液样本中无形体科病原体、伯氏考克斯氏体和肝簇虫属的存在情况及分子特征。共分析了来自99只貘的122份血液样本。在潘塔纳尔湿地采集了61只貘的样本，而38只来自塞拉多生物群落。从血液样本中提取DNA，并进行常规和/或定量PCR检测，以对无形体科病原体（无形体属、埃立克体属和新立克次氏体属）、伯氏考克斯氏体和肝簇虫属的DNA进行分子筛选和特征分析。所有样本中埃立克体属、伯氏考克斯氏体或肝簇虫属均为阴性。22份样本（22/122；18%）扩增出了本文检测的无形体属16S rRNA片段预期大小的片段。在这些样本中，2份（9.1%）扩增出了无形体属ITS 23S - 5S片段。选择9份16S rRNA检测呈阳性的样本进行克隆和测序。从系统发育来看，基于16S rRNA大片段（>1200 bp）的距离和单倍型分析表明，与貘相关的无形体属和奥氏无形体是基因相似的物种。此外，基于部分16S rRNA的扩增，31份样本（25.4%）新立克次氏体呈阳性。对获得的三个序列进行系统发育评估表明，它们与马波托马克热的病原体里氏新立克次氏体有关。这是关于新立克次氏体属在貘中的首次报道以及一种新的无形体属基因型的描述。
