"Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae" in Ixodes persulcatus ticks collected in Russia

We collected 209 Ixodes persulcatus ticks in various regions of Russia, including the southern Urals and western and eastern Siberia. Using PCR amplification and sequencing of the citrate synthase-encoding gene (gltA), we detected a new rickettsial genotype, which we named "Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae." This bacterium was found in 9.27%, 10.0%, and 20.5% of the ticks collected in western Siberia, eastern Siberia, and the southern Urals, respectively. "Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae" exhibited a 98% and 96% nucleotide sequence homology, with the 16S rDNA and gltA sequence, respectively, of R. canadensis, a rickettsia previously only found in Haemaphysalis leporispalustris ticks in North America. The phylogenetic analysis of "Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae" and other Rickettsia species allowed the creation of a new cluster with high bootstrap values within the Rickettsia genus involving this rickettsia, R. canadensis, and three uncultured rickettsiae from plant insects.