Term of Award
Summer 2006
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biology (M.S.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Biology
Committee Chair
Quentin Q. Fang
Committee Member 1
Lance A. Durden
Committee Member 2
William S. Irby
Abstract
Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an obligate intracellular bacterium that can infect and cause disease in horses, Equine Granuloctic Anaplasmosis. The bacterium is present in the western and northeastern United States, Europe, and Asia. In this investigation, samples of Ixodes scapularis were collected from selected barrier islands and mainland sites where feral and domestic equine populations are present, respectively. Each sample was individually screened using nested PCR to amplify a fragment of the ank and 16S rRNA genes. The prevalence of A. phagocytophilum in I. scapularis ticks was 20% (n=808). The highest infection rate was seen at a barrier island site (22%, n=774). The remaining five sites had prevalence ranging from 0% (n=9) to 19% (n=51). Randomly chosen positive PCR samples from each site were sequenced, and a BLAST search verified the isolates as A. phagocytophilum, which shared sequence homology with isolates from the northeastern United States.
Recommended Citation
Roellig, Dawn Marie, "Surveillance and Comparison of Anaplasma Phagoctyophilum (Formerly Erlichia Equi) within Ixodes Scapularis Ticks in Selected Southeastern States" (2006). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 713.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/713
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
