Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Pivot Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Target Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Query: EC:2.3.3.1 (
citrate synthase
)
4,488
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Bed bugs are now one of the most prevalent human-associated, blood-feeding pests in the urban world, but few studies of their association with human pathogens have been conducted since their resurgence. Here, we used PCR to screen samples of field-collected bed bugs (
Cimex
spp.) for the presence of
Rickettsia
bacteria and we describe the first detection of an uncharacterized
Rickettsia
in
Cimex
lectularius
in nature.
Rickettsia
was detected in 5/39 (12.8%) of the bed bug samples tested. In particular, three pools from the USA and two individual insects from the UK were positive for
Rickettsia
DNA. Sequencing and analysis of a fragment of the
citrate synthase
gene (
gltA
) from positive samples from each country revealed that the
Rickettsia
detected in both were identical and were closely related to a
Rickettsia
previously detected in the rat flea
Nosopsyllus laeviceps
. Additional experiments indicated that the
Rickettsia
localizes to multiple tissues in the bed bug and reaches high titres. Attempts were made to infect mammalian cells in culture but these efforts were inconclusive. Our findings suggest that
Rickettsia
are secondary endosymbionts of bed bugs and have potential implications for both bed bug control and public health. However, further investigation is required to determine the pathogenicity of this
Rickettsia
, its transmission mechanisms, and its contributions to bed bug physiology.
...
PMID:Molecular detection of
Rickettsia
infection in field-collected bed bugs. 3202 11
