Niebylski M L, Schrumpf M E, Burgdorfer W, Fischer E R, Gage K L, Schwan T G
Laboratory of microbial Structure and Function, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840, USA.
Int J Syst Bacteriol. 1997 Apr;47(2):446-52. doi: 10.1099/00207713-47-2-446.
Rickettsia peacockii, a new species of spotted fever group rickettsiae, was identified from Rocky Mountain wood ticks (Dermacentor andersoni) collected in the Sapphire Mountain Range on the eastern side of Bitterroot Valley, Montana. DNA from R. peacockii SkalkahoT (T = type strain) in naturally infected tick tissue was amplified by a PCR assay with primer sets derived from eubacterial 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), rickettsial citrate synthase, and 190-kDa surface antigen (rOmpA) genes. Partial 16S rDNA and rOmpA gene sequences exhibited levels of similarity of 99.7 and 93.2%, respectively, with the sequences of the spotted fever agent Rickettsia rickettsii R. By using Gimenez staining, fluorescent antibody tests, a PCR assay, and a restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, 76 of 115 female ticks (minimal field infection rate, 66.1%) collected between 1992 and 1995 were found to be infected. The organism is passed transstadially and transovarially (minimal vertical transmission rate, 73.3%), and infections are localized in ovarial tissues. Attempts to cultivate R. peacockii were unsuccessful.
孔雀立克次体是斑点热群立克次体的一个新种，从蒙大拿州比特鲁特山谷东侧蓝宝石山脉采集的落基山木蜱（安氏革蜱）中鉴定出来。利用从真细菌16S核糖体DNA（rDNA）、立克次体柠檬酸合酶和190 kDa表面抗原（rOmpA）基因衍生的引物对，通过PCR检测对自然感染蜱组织中的孔雀立克次体SkalkahoT（T = 模式菌株）的DNA进行扩增。16S rDNA和rOmpA基因部分序列与斑点热病原体立氏立克次体R的序列相似性分别为99.7%和93.2%。通过吉姆萨染色、荧光抗体检测、PCR检测和限制性片段长度多态性分析，发现1992年至1995年间采集的115只雌性蜱中有76只（最小野外感染率为66.1%）被感染。该病原体可经变态期和经卵传播（最小垂直传播率为73.3%），感染局限于卵巢组织。培养孔雀立克次体的尝试未成功。
