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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Veterinary bacteriology: information about important bacteria
Veterinary bacteriology


Species/Subspecies: Ehrlichia canis
Etymology: Genus name: named after the German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915).
Species epithet: of dog.
Significance:The disease is normally not found in Sweden, as the brown dog tick requires a warmer climate in order to survive. Sick dogs may, however, occur after importing or stay abroad.
  [Of minor importance]   
Taxonomy:
Phylum
Pseudomonadota
Class
Alphaproteobacteria
Order
Rickettsiales
Family
Anaplasmataceae 
Genus
Ehrlichia
Type Strain: Oklahoma
Macromorphology (smell): Cannot be cultivaqted on cell free substrates (e.g. agar plates).
Micromorphology: Coccoid to elipsoid cells (about 0.5 µm in diameter), which are nonmotile. A morula (see below) can be up to 4 µm in diameter.
Gram +/Gram -:G-
Catalase/Oxidase:
Fermentation of carbohydrates: Is not used for identification of Ehrlichia spp. Furthermore, many intracellular bacteria lack enzymes for carbohydrate metabolism because of evolutionary gene reduction.
Spec. Char.:
Vector: Brown dog tick(Rhipicephalus sangineus)
Reservoir: Canids
Disease:Canine monocytic ehrlichiosis.
Hosts: Canids (Canidae). Has also been reported in cats.
Clinical Picture:
Genome Sequence:
Acc-noStrainSize (bp)Genome
NC_007354 Jake 1 315 030 (1c + 0) 

16S rRNA Seq.:
Acc-noStrainNumber of NTOperon
M73221 (T) 1433 

Taxonomy/phylogeny:
 
Seven species have been described within the genus Ehrlichia, which is most closely related to the genus Anaplasma.
Comment:Strictly intracellular and grows in inclusions (morulae) in monocytes. Morula refers to the mulberry-like structure (Morus= mulberry in Latin) of the inclusions .
Updated:2023-03-22

News

The revised taxonomy of the mollicutes (mycoplasmas)

About 2 years ago, the taxonomy of mycoplasmas was revised at VetBact, because a research group had proposed that 5 new genera should be included together with the genus Mycoplasma. This also had consequences for higher taxa within the phylum, which was then called Tenericutes. Now another group of researchers has suggested that the new names should be rejected.

Published 2023-10-03. Read more...

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