Bovine rickettsial genomes: prospects for new control measures.
2009
Rodríguez, S. D. | García, M. Á. | Preciado, J. F. | Vega, C. A. | Rojas, E. E.
Rickettsial diseases of cattle are a major constraint in developing countries, leading to severe economic losses. Bovine anaplasmosis and heartwater are the two most important pathogens across a wide area of the world. Available vaccines are based on live virulent or attenuated vaccines, but have a number of drawbacks. Vaccination with individual antigens may induce adequate protection against homologous challenge but poor protection against heterologous challenge. The complete genome sequences of <i>Anaplasma marginale</i>, <i>Ehrlichia ruminantium</i> and other Rickettsiales are now available and new tools are being developed for the study of DNA sequences and comparison between different species, but more importantly between members of the same species. In the present review, a brief comparison of the genomes of <i>A. marginale</i> and <i>E. ruminantium</i> is presented, with special attention to the use of this information in detailing new antigens, finding differences between virulent and non-virulent organisms and understanding the interactions between the pathogens and their vectors, with the aim of finding new ways of controlling these diseases.
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