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Development of a generic Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR and investigation of ehrlichioses in domestic ruminants on five Caribbean islands

Overview of attention for article published in Parasites & Vectors, October 2015
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Title
Development of a generic Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR and investigation of ehrlichioses in domestic ruminants on five Caribbean islands
Published in
Parasites & Vectors, October 2015
DOI 10.1186/s13071-015-1118-5
Pubmed ID
Authors

Jilei Zhang, Patrick Kelly, Weina Guo, Chuanling Xu, Lanjing Wei, Frans Jongejan, Amanda Loftis, Chengming Wang

Abstract

The Ehrlichia are obligate intracellular Gram-negative tick-borne bacteria that are important human and animal pathogens. There is a need for assays to rapidly and reliably detect and differentiate the five generally recognized species into groups in a single reaction: E. canis, E. chaffeensis, E. ewingii, E. muris and E. ruminantium. We developed primers and probes against the 16S rRNA gene to enable us to reliably detect the five major Ehrlichia spp. in a single FRET-qPCR. We tested the Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR on reference strains and on DNA from the blood of domestic ruminants from five Caribbean islands. The Ehrlichia present were determined using melting point analysis and by sequencing the Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR products as well as those of a nested PCR against the citrate synthase gene (gltA). Our Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR was negative for the closely related Anaplasma marginale and A. phagocytophilum but gave positive reactions with reference strains of the most generally recognized species and with other less characterized Ehrlichia of domestic ruminants, mainly E. ovina, the Panola Mountain Ehrlichia, and Ehrlichia sp. BOV2010. Melting point analysis revealed 4 distinct groups: E. ruminantium (T m ~55.8 °C); E. chaffeensis and E. ewingii (T m ~57.7 °C); E. canis, E. muris, E. ovina and Ehrlichia sp. BOV 2010 (T m ~62.0 °C); and the Panola Mountain Ehrlichia (T m ~65.5 °C). The detection limit of the FRET-qPCR was ~ 5 gene copies in a reaction and the sequences of the FRET-qPCR products were as expected. With DNA from domestic ruminants from the Caribbean we found 12.2 % (134/1,101) positive: cattle (76/385; 19.7 %), sheep (45/340; 13.2 %) and goats (13/376; 3.5 %). Melting point analysis and sequencing of the FRET-qPCR and nested PCR gltA products showed the Ehrlichia we detected were E. canis or very closely related organisms. In a single reaction, our Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR can detect the Ehrlichia spp. we studied and differentiate them into four groups. Domestic ruminants in the Caribbean are not uncommonly exposed to Ehrlichia, possibly E. canis or very closely related organisms.

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The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 3 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 41 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Colombia 1 2%
Unknown 40 98%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 7 17%
Professor 5 12%
Student > Doctoral Student 5 12%
Student > Master 3 7%
Student > Postgraduate 3 7%
Other 8 20%
Unknown 10 24%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 10 24%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 7 17%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 3 7%
Immunology and Microbiology 3 7%
Medicine and Dentistry 2 5%
Other 5 12%
Unknown 11 27%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 22 June 2016.
All research outputs
#17,774,664
of 22,829,683 outputs
Outputs from Parasites & Vectors
#3,815
of 5,465 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#187,315
of 277,991 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Parasites & Vectors
#104
of 157 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,829,683 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 19th percentile – i.e., 19% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,465 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.7. This one is in the 22nd percentile – i.e., 22% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 277,991 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 28th percentile – i.e., 28% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 157 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 28th percentile – i.e., 28% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.