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 Fang, R.
Right arrow Articles by Raoult, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Fang, R.
Right arrow Articles by Raoult, D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2003, p. 221-228, Vol. 10, No. 2
1071-412X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.10.2.221-228.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Antigenic Classification of Rickettsia felis by Using Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies

Rong Fang and Didier Raoult*

Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, IFR 48, Faculté de Médecine, 13385 Marseille, France

Received 24 May 2002/ Returned for modification 22 July 2002/ Accepted 15 November 2002

Rickettsia felis is a flea-transmitted rickettsia. There is a discrepancy between its reported phylogenic and phenotypic identifications. Following the first report of R. felis, it was considered by tests with serologic reagents to be closely related to another recognized flea-transmitted rickettia, R. typhi. Subsequently, it appeared to be more closely related to spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae by genetic analysis. In the present work, R. felis was studied by microimmunofluorescence (MIF) serologic typing and with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Mouse polyclonal antisera to R. felis cross-reacted only with SFG rickettsiae. A neighbor-joining analysis based on MIF indicated that R. felis is actually related to SFG rickettsiae antigenically, clustering with R. australis, R. akari, and R. montanensis. A panel of 21 MAbs was raised against a 120-kDa protein antigen or a 17-kDa polypeptide of R. felis. They cross-reacted with most members of the SFG rickettsiae but not with R. prowazekii, R. typhi, or R. canadensis of the typhus group (TG) rickettsiae. Sixty-four MAbs previously generated to seven other ricketttsial species were tested with R. felis. Three MAbs reacted with the 120-kDa antigen and were generated by R. africae, R. conorii, and R. akari, respectively. They exhibited cross-reactivities with R. felis. All our data show that R. felis harbors the antigenic profile of an SFG rickettsia.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, IFR 48, Faculté de Médecine, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille, France. Phone: (33) 4 91 32 43 75. Fax: (33) 4 91 83 03 90. E-mail: Didier.Raoult{at}medicine.Univ-mrs.fr.

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2003, p. 221-228, Vol. 10, No. 2
1071-412X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.10.2.221-228.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • ZAVALA-CASTRO, J. E., SMALL, M., KENG, C., BOUYER, D. H., ZAVALA-VELAZQUEZ, J., WALKER, D. H. (2005). TRANSCRIPTION OF THE RICKETTSIA FELIS OMPA GENE IN NATURALLY INFECTED FLEAS. Am J Trop Med Hyg 73: 662-666 [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»