This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Holman, P. J.
Right arrow Articles by Telford, S. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Holman, P. J.
Right arrow Articles by Telford, S. R., III

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2005, p. 3995-4001, Vol. 43, No. 8
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.8.3995-4001.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

In Vitro Cultivation of a Zoonotic Babesia sp. Isolated from Eastern Cottontail Rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts

Patricia J. Holman,1* Angela M. Spencer,1 Robert E. Droleskey,2 Heidi K. Goethert,3 and Samuel R. Telford III3

Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas,1 Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, College Station, Texas,2 Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, 200 Westboro Road, North Grafton, Massachusetts3

Received 26 January 2005/ Returned for modification 9 March 2005/ Accepted 11 April 2005

A Babesia sp. found in eastern cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, is the same organism that caused human babesiosis in Missouri and Kentucky, on the basis of morphology and identical small-subunit rRNA (SSU rRNA) gene sequences. Continuous cultures of the rabbit parasite were established from infected blood samples collected from two cottontail rabbits livetrapped on Nantucket Island. HL-1 medium or minimal essential medium alpha medium supplemented with 20% human serum best supported in vitro propagation of the parasite in human or cottontail erythrocytes, respectively. Parasite growth was not sustained in domestic-rabbit erythrocytes or in medium supplemented with domestic-rabbit serum. The cultured parasites were morphologically indistinguishable from the Kentucky human isolate. Transmission electron microscopy revealed similar fine structures of the parasite regardless of the host erythrocyte utilized in the cultures. Two continuous lines of the zoonotic Babesia sp. were established and confirmed to share identical SSU rRNA gene sequences with each other and with the Missouri and Kentucky human Babesia isolates.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4467. Phone: (979) 845-4202. Fax: (979) 862-2344. E-mail: pholman{at}cvm.tamu.edu.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2005, p. 3995-4001, Vol. 43, No. 8
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.8.3995-4001.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kim, J.-Y., Cho, S.-H., Joo, H.-N., Tsuji, M., Cho, S.-R., Park, I.-J., Chung, G.-T., Ju, J.-W., Cheun, H.-I., Lee, H.-W., Lee, Y.-H., Kim, T.-S. (2007). First Case of Human Babesiosis in Korea: Detection and Characterization of a Novel Type of Babesia sp. (KO1) Similar to Ovine Babesia. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 2084-2087 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»