| Species/Subspecies:
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Ehrlichia ruminantium |
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| Etymology:
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Genus name: named after the German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915).
Species epithet: of ruminants. |
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| Significance: | The disease occurs in Africa and the Caribbean, where it causes serious problems in the livestock sector.
[Of minor importance]
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| Old Species Name(s): | Cowdria ruminantium |
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| Taxonomy:
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| Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
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| Proteobacteria | Alphaproteobacteria | Rickettsiales | Anaplasmataceae | Ehrlichia |
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| Type Strain:
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Welgevonden. |
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| Macromorphology (smell):
| Cannot be cultivated on cell free substrates (e.g. agar plates). |
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| Micromorphology:
| Coccoid to elipsoid cells (about 0,5 µm i diameter), which are nonmotile. A morula can be up to 4 µm in diameter.
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| Gram +/Gram -: | G- |
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| Metabolism:
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Aerobic |
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| Catalase/Oxidase: | |
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| 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. |
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| Spec. Char.:
| |
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| Hosts:
| Cattle, sheep, goats and other ruminants. |
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| Vector:
| Tick (Amblyomma variegatum and A. cajennensis). |
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| Reservoir:
| Ruminants |
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| Disease (Swedish): | "Cowdrios". |
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| Disease (English): | Heartwater or cowdriosis. |
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| Clinical Picture:
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| Genome Sequence:
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| Acc-no | Strain | Size (bp) | Genome |
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| NC_006831 | Gardel | 1 499 920 | |
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| 16S rRNA Seq.:
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| Acc-no | Strain | Number of NT | Operon |
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| X61659 | Crystal Springs (Zimbabwe) isolate | 1569 | 1 |
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| Taxonomy/phylogeny:
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| Comment: | Strictly intracellular and grows in inclusions (morulae) in monocytes. Morula refers to the mulberry-like structure (Morus= mulberry in Latin) of the inclusions . |
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