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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 1997, 1172-1178, Vol 35, No. 5
CP Kolbert, ES Bruinsma, AS Abdulkarim, EK Hofmeister, RB Tompkins, SR Telford 3rd, PD Mitchell, J Adams-Stich and DH Persing
A gene that is homologous to the Ehrlichia chaffeensis groEL operon was
recovered and characterized by broad-range PCR amplification of whole blood
from patients with human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) and from infected
HL60 cell cultures. Sequence analysis of an 820-bp DNA fragment recovered
directly from human blood showed 76.5 and 76.3% identity with cognate
sequences from E. chaffeensis and Cowdria ruminantium, respectively.
Analysis of a 1.6-kb DNA fragment derived from an HGE agent-infected HL60
cell culture indicated a near-complete open reading frame that contained
75.6 and 75.2% sequence identity with the E. chaffeensis and C. ruminantium
groEL sequences, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of this fragment
showed that the HGE agent- derived sequence was related to, but distinct
from, the sequences of E. chaffeensis and C. ruminantium. Polyvalent
antibody responses to a recombinant fusion protein based on the HGE agent
groEL homolog were detected in three of three BALB/c mice that were
infected by syringe inoculation with a Wisconsin strain of the HGE agent
(WI-1) and nine of nine mice infected by Ixodes scapularis (Ixodes dammini)
tick inoculation of an isolate from Nantucket Island, Mass. (NCH-1). No
response was detected in mice infected with Borrelia burgdorferi or in
control BALB/c mice. Further characterization of the sensitivity and
specificity of immune responses to this protein will be facilitated by the
use of recombinant fusion proteins or peptides based on the HGE
agent-specific groEL homolog.
Copyright © 1997 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Characterization of an immunoreactive protein from the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.
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