In the family of fruit bats, Pteropodidae Gray, 1821, as in the third most diverse group of bats (Chiroptera), the bacterium of the genus Bartonella was detected in several species as well as in a few species of their insect ectoparasites in some tropical and sub-tropical regions of the Old World. The Egyptian fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus (Geoffroy, 1810), is one of the most widespread fruit bats, occurring between South Africa, Senegal, and Pakistan. In this bat species, Candidatus Bartonella rousetti has been detected in three African populations in Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia. This fruit bat, however, also occurs in the Palaearctic, an area isolating the species geographically and phylogenetically from the Afrotropical part of its distribution range. We screened the blood-sucking bat flies (family Nycteribiidae) from R. aegyptiacus for the presence of the Bartonella bacteria. A rich material of bat fly Eucampsipoda aegyptia (Macquart, 1850), a monoxenous ectoparasite of the Egyptian fruit bats, was collected at 26 localities in seven countries (Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen) of the Middle East in 2007-2013. The DNA isolates from the bat flies were subjected to a three-marker (gltA, ssrA, and intergenic spacer region, ITS) multilocus sequence analysis. Based on the amplification of the fragment of ssrA gene by a real-time PCR, 65 E. aegyptia samples from 19 localities in all seven countries were positive for the bacteria. One to five Bartonella-positive individuals of E. aegyptia were collected per one individual of R. aegyptiacus. An analysis of the ITS and gltA genes indicated the presence of an uncultured Bartonella sp., belonging to the Cand. B. rousetti genogroup, identified from populations of the Egyptian fruit bat in Africa. These results support the hypothesis that Bartonella's diversity corresponds to its host's diversity (and phylogenetic structure). Specific lineages of pathogens are present in specific phylogenetic groups of bats.

• MeSH
• Bartonella * genetika   MeSH
• Chiroptera * MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• intergenová DNA MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Keňa MeSH
• Střední východ MeSH

BACKGROUND: Rickettsialpox is a febrile illness caused by the mite-borne pathogen Rickettsia akari. Several cases of this disease are reported worldwide annually. Nevertheless, the relationship between the immunogenicity of R. akari and disease development is still poorly understood. Thus, misdiagnosis is frequent. Our study is aiming to identify immunogenic proteins that may improve disease recognition and enhance subsequent treatment. To achieve this goal, two proteomics methodologies were applied, followed by immunoblot confirmation. RESULTS: Three hundred and sixteen unique proteins were identified in the whole-cell extract of R. akari. The most represented protein groups were found to be those involved in translation, post-translational modifications, energy production, and cell wall development. A significant number of proteins belonged to amino acid transport and intracellular trafficking. Also, some proteins affecting the virulence were detected. In silico analysis of membrane enriched proteins revealed 25 putative outer membrane proteins containing beta-barrel structure and 11 proteins having a secretion signal peptide sequence. Using rabbit and human sera, various immunoreactive proteins were identified from which the 44 kDa uncharacterized protein (A8GP63) has demonstrated a unique detection capability. It positively distinguished the sera of patients with Rickettsialpox from other rickettsiae positive human sera. CONCLUSION: Our proteomic analysis certainly contributed to the lack of knowledge of R. akari pathogenesis. The result obtained may also serve as a guideline for a more accurate diagnosis of rickettsial diseases. The identified 44 kDa uncharacterized protein can be certainly used as a unique marker of rickettsialpox or as a target molecule for the development of more effective treatment.

• MeSH
• chromatografie kapalinová MeSH
• králíci MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• molekulární modely MeSH
• molekulová hmotnost MeSH
• proteiny vnější bakteriální membrány chemie   imunologie   metabolismus   MeSH
• proteomika metody   MeSH
• protilátky bakteriální krev   MeSH
• Rickettsia akari imunologie   izolace a purifikace   metabolismus   MeSH
• sekundární struktura proteinů MeSH
• skvrnité horečky diagnóza   imunologie   MeSH
• tandemová hmotnostní spektrometrie MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• králíci MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH