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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 1999, p. 1447-1453, Vol. 37, No. 5
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0

Molecular Cloning and Characterization of the Ehrlichia chaffeensis Variable-Length PCR Target: an Antigen-Expressing Gene That Exhibits Interstrain Variation

John W. Sumner,* James E. Childs, and Christopher D. Paddock

Viral and Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333

Received 27 October 1998/Returned for modification 17 December 1998/Accepted 5 February 1999

A clone expressing an immunoreactive protein with an apparent molecular mass of 44 kDa was selected from an Ehrlichia chaffeensis Arkansas genomic library by probing with anti-E. chaffeensis hyperimmune mouse ascitic fluid. Nucleotide sequencing revealed an open reading frame (ORF) capable of encoding a 198-amino-acid polypeptide. The ORF contained four imperfect, direct, tandem 90-bp repeats. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences did not show close homologies to entries in the molecular databases. PCR with primers whose sequences matched the sequences flanking the ORF was performed with DNA samples extracted from cell cultures infected with nine different isolates of E. chaffeensis, blood samples from seven patients with monocytic ehrlichiosis, and Amblyomma americanum ticks collected in four different states. The resulting amplicons varied in length, containing three to six repeat units. This gene, designated the variable-length PCR target, is useful for PCR detection of E. chaffeensis and differentiation of isolates.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Viral and Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., Mailstop G-13, Atlanta, GA 30333. Phone: (404) 639-1075. Fax: (404) 639-4436. E-mail: jws3{at}cdc.gov.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 1999, p. 1447-1453, Vol. 37, No. 5
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0


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