This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Munderloh, U. G. Articles by Davidson, W. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Munderloh, U. G. Articles by Davidson, W. R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2003, p. 4328-4335, Vol. 41, No. 9
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.9.4328-4335.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Isolation of an Anaplasma sp. Organism from White-Tailed Deer by Tick Cell Culture

Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108,¹ University of Georgia, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Athens, Georgia 30602²

Received 25 March 2003/ Returned for modification 16 May 2003/ Accepted 22 June 2003

We used tick cell culture to isolate a bacterium previously referred to as the "white-tailed deer (WTD) agent" from two captive fawns inoculated with blood from wild WTD (Odocoileus virginianus). Buffy coat cells were added to ISE6 tick cell cultures and incubated at 34°C, and 8 days later, Anaplasma-like inclusions were demonstrated in Giemsa-stained culture samples. The microbes became established and could be continuously passaged in tick cells. The identity of a culture isolate designated WTD76 was verified as the WTD agent by using specific PCR primers and by DNA sequencing. Comparison with sequences available in GenBank indicated that the isolate was most closely related first to Anaplasma platys and second to Anaplasma phagocytophilum, supporting its placement in the genus Anaplasma. Transmission electron microscopy of this Anaplasma sp. organism in tick cell cultures revealed large inclusions filled with pleomorphic and rod-shaped bacteria. Tick cells infected with the Anaplasma sp. organism were used to successfully infect a naive deer, thereby proving the infectivity of the isolate for deer.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Tate, C. M., Mead, D. G., Luttrell, M. P., Howerth, E. W., Dugan, V. G., Munderloh, U. G., Davidson, W. R. (2005). Experimental Infection of White-Tailed Deer with Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Etiologic Agent of Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 3595-3601 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• de la Fuente, J., Massung, R. F., Wong, S. J., Chu, F. K., Lutz, H., Meli, M., von Loewenich, F. D., Grzeszczuk, A., Torina, A., Caracappa, S., Mangold, A. J., Naranjo, V., Stuen, S., Kocan, K. M. (2005). Sequence Analysis of the msp4 Gene of Anaplasma phagocytophilum Strains. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 1309-1317 [Abstract] [Full Text]