Infection exclusion of the rickettsial pathogen anaplasma marginale in the tick vector Dermacentor variabilis

Anaplasma marginale is a tick-borne, rickettsial cattle pathogen that is endemic in several areas of the United States. Recent studies (J. de la Fuente, J. C. Garcia-Garcia, E. F. Blouin, J. T. Saliki, and K. M. Kocan, Clin. Diagn. Lab. Immunol. 9:658-668, 2002) demonstrated that infection of cultured tick cells and bovine erythrocytes with one genotype of A. marginale excluded infection with other genotypes, a phenomenon referred to as infection exclusion. The present study was undertaken to confirm the phenomenon of infection exclusion of A. marginale genotypes in a tick vector, Dermacentor variabilis. Only one genotype of A. marginale (Virginia isolate) was detected by PCR in ticks that fed first on a calf infected with a Virginia isolate and second on a calf infected with an Oklahoma isolate. These studies demonstrate that infection exclusion of A. marginale genotypes also occurs in naturally infected ticks, as well as in cattle and cultured tick cells, and results in establishment of only one genotype per tick.