Anaplasma platys in dogs, Chile

Abstract

We conducted a 16S rRNA nested PCR for the genus Ehrlichia and Ehrlichia spp. with blood samples from 30 ill dogs in Chile. Phylogenetic analysis was performed by using groESL gene amplification. We identified Anaplasma platys as 1 of the etiologic agents of canine ehrlichiosis.

Figure 1

A) Anaplasma platys nested PCR products of 30 blood samples from dogs in Chile. Positive samples from dogs 7, 12, 17, 19, 23, and 25 are indicated by a 150-bp band. –, PCR-negative control; dog 13, negative control; M, 50-bp DNA ladder. Value on the right is in basepairs. B) Second-round A. platys groESL nested PCR products of dog DNA samples with 3 sets of primers. Group A, SQ5F/SQ4R (790 bp); group B, SQ3F/SQ4R (1,170 bp); group C, SQ3F/SQ6R (360 bp). M, GeneRuler 1-kb DNA ladder (Fermentas, Hanover, MD, USA); Dog 13, negative control; –, PCR-negative control. Values on the left are in basepairs.

Figure 2

Phylogenetic relationship between 3 Chilean Anaplasma platys strains and other strains of the families Rickettsiaceae and Anaplasmataceae based on the groESL gene nucleotide sequences. GenBank accession nos. of groESL sequences used to construct the phylogenetic tree were the following: A. platys France Sommieres AY044161; A. platys Lara Venezuelan dog AF399916; A. platys from Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks in the Democratic Republic of Congo AF478129; A. platys from a dog in Okinawa, Japan AY077621; A. platys from a dog in Louisiana, USA AY008300; A. marginale AF165812; Ehrlichia equi AF172162; E. phagocytophyla U96729; E. chaffeensis L10917; E. canis U96731; E. muris AF210459; Ehrlichia sp. from Ixodes ovatus AB032711; E. ruminantium U13638; Neorickettsia risticii U96732; N. sennetsu U88092; Rickettsia prowazekii Y15783; and Bartonella henselae U96734. Scale bar at the lower left indicates 0.05 substitutions per nucleotide.