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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 81(1), 2009, pp. 55-58
Copyright © 2009 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Isolation and Genetic Characterization of a Bartonella Strain Closely Related to Bartonella tribocorum and Bartonella elizabethae in Israeli Commensal Rats

Shimon Harrus*, Gilla Kahila Bar-Gal, Amira Golan, Ron Elazari-Volcani, Michael Y. Kosoy, Danny Morick, Boaz Avidor, AND Gad Baneth
Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel; Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado; Laboratory for Viruses and Molecular Biology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Ten Bartonella isolates were cultured from blood drawn from black rats (Rattus rattus) captured in the Tel Aviv area. Genetic characterization included amplification and sequencing of five gene fragments including the ribC, rpoB, 16S, groEL, and gltA and the 16S–23S intergenic spacer region. Sequence comparisons showed that all 10 isolates were identical in all genes studied comprising a total of 3,873 bp analyzed. The sequences of each of the partial genes analyzed indicated a high sequence similarity (97–99.8%) to B. tribocorum or B. elizabethae. The gltA sequence was 100% homologous to a genotype identified in R. rattus in Dhaka, Bangladesh, suggesting the existence of a widespread Asian Bartonella strain infecting the black rats (R. rattus ). The detection of a Bartonella genotype closely related to B. elizabethae in the biggest metropolitan center in Israel warrants further study of its zoonotic potential and pathogenic characteristics.

Received December 25, 2008. Accepted for publication April 14, 2009.

* Address correspondence to Shimon Harrus, Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, PO Box 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel. E-mail: harrus{at}agri.huji.ac.il

Authors’ addresses: Shimon Harrus, Gilla Kahila Bar-Gal, Amira Golan, Danny Morick, and Gad Baneth, Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, PO Box 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Ron Elazari-Volcani, Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Michael Y. Kosoy, Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO 80521. Boaz Avidor, Laboratory for Viruses and Molecular Biology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 64239, Israel.






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