Background
Bartonella bacilliformis is the etiological agent of Carrion’s disease, a neglected tropical
poverty-linked illness. This infection is endemic of Andean regions and it is estimated that
approximately 1.7 million of South Americans are at risk. This bacterium is a fastidious slow
growing microorganism, which is difficult and cumbersome to isolate from clinical sources,
thereby hindering the availability of phylogenetic relationship of clinical samples. The aim of
this study was to perform Multi Locus Sequence Typing of B. bacilliformis directly in blood
from patients diagnosed with Oroya fever during an outbreak in Northern Peru.
Methodology/Principal Findings
DNA extracted among blood samples from patients diagnosed with Oroya’s fever were analyzed
with MLST, with the amplification of 7 genetic loci (ftsZ, flaA, ribC, rnpB, rpoB, bvrR
and groEL) and a phylogenetic analysis of the different Sequence Types (ST) was performed.
A total of 4 different ST were identified. The most frequently found was ST1 present
in 66% of samples. Additionally, two samples presented a new allelic profile, belonging to
new STs (ST 9 and ST 10), which were closely related to ST1.
Conclusions/Significance
The present data demonstrate that B. bacilliformis MLST studies may be possible directly
from blood samples, being a promising approach for epidemiological studies. During the
outbreak the STs of B. bacilliformis were found to be heterogeneous, albeit closely related,
probably reflecting the evolution from a common ancestor colonizing the area. Additional
studies including new samples and areas are needed, in order to obtain better knowledge of
phylogenetic scenario B. bacilliformis
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PERUUPC/oai:repositorioacademico.upc.edu.pe:10757/595423 |
| Date | 01 February 2016 |
| Creators | Pons, Maria J, Silva-Caso, Wilmer, Del Valle Mendoza, Juana, Ruiz, Joaquim |
| Publisher | PLoS ONE |
| Source Sets | Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC) |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| Source | Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), Repositorio Académico - UPC |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0004391 |
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