Anaplasma phagocytophilum
A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Anaplasma phagocytophilum
Classification
Higher order taxa
Bacteria; proteabacteria; alphaproteobacteria; rickettsiales; anaplasmataceae; Anaplasma; phagocytophium group (2)
Species
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NCBI: Taxonomy |
Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Anaplasma marginale; Anaplasma platys(2)
Description and significance
Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an intracellular obligate pathogen. It is widely distributed and can be found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Anaplasma phagocytophilum causes the disease Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis(HGE) and is most often spread through tick bites and is thus widely studied. The bacterium infects and colonizes neutrophils in host organisms, often leading to immunodeficiency diseases(1). The Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis pathogen was first described in 1994 in patients in Wisconsin and Minnesota(14). Ticks collected from the area of infection were also discovered to be carriers of the HGE pathogen(14). The infectious agent, first classified as Ehrlichia phagocytophila has recently been reclassified as Anaplasma phagocytophilum(14).
Genome structure
Anaplasma phagocytophilum has one circular genome composed of 1471282 base pairs, composing 1264 protein genes (4). Anaplasma phagocytophilum contains no known plasmids (8).
Cell structure and metabolism
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Ecology
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Pathology
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Application to Biotechnology
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Current Research
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References
Edited by student of Rachel Larsen and Kit Pogliano
