The long-term objectives of this proposed research are to determine the genetic and antigenic basis for the diversity of spotted fever group rickettsiae in eastern Asia. This knowledge is the foundation for the development of a rational epidemiologic and immunologic approach to development of effective preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools for these rickettsioses. Important aspects of this proposal are the active participation of leading rickettsiologists of the People's Republic of China as visiting scholars at the University of North Carolina to learn molecular rickettsiologic techniques and the work in the field, hospitals, and laboratories of the People's Republic of China by the American principal investigator. This combination of opportunities offers the prospect of opening the knowledge of this important geographic area to modern scientific access. Isolators of spotted fever group rickettsiae from China including Jing-he rickettsia and Rickettsia sibirica will be compared with R. sibirica from the USSR and other Asian spotted fever group rickettsiae such as R. conorii, JC-880, and TT-118. Methods which will be employed include microimmuno-fluorescent antibody analysis, Western immunoblotting, monoclonal antibodies, and restriction endonuclease analysis of rickettsial DNA. North Asian tick typhus is a widespread spotted fever group rickettsiosis of public health importance in China, USSR, and Mongolia. India tick typhus and Southeast Asian spotted fever group rickettsioses border upon China but are of unknown distribution within the People's Republic of China. A major interest of the principal rickettsiology laboratory in China, located at the National Center for Preventive Medicine in Beijing, is spotted fever group rickettsioses of China. This research proposal offers the fulfillment of long-term cooperative aggreement with that laboratory and the elucidation of the ecology and molecular rickettsiology of spotted fever rickettsiae in China which will be subsequently carried forward by the Chinese scientists.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
7R01AI022224-04
Application #
3133096
Study Section
Tropical Medicine and Parasitology Study Section (TMP)
Project Start
1987-08-01
Project End
1989-03-31
Budget Start
1987-08-01
Budget End
1989-03-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
1987
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Texas Medical Br Galveston
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
041367053
City
Galveston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77555
Walker, D H; Feng, H M; Saada, J I et al. (1995) Comparative antigenic analysis of spotted fever group rickettsiae from Israel and other closely related organisms. Am J Trop Med Hyg 52:569-76
Uchida, T; Uchiyama, T; Kumano, K et al. (1992) Rickettsia japonica sp. nov., the etiological agent of spotted fever group rickettsiosis in Japan. Int J Syst Bacteriol 42:303-5
Uchiyama, T; Uchida, T; Walker, D H (1990) Species-specific monoclonal antibodies to Rickettsia japonica, a newly identified spotted fever group rickettsia. J Clin Microbiol 28:1177-80
Uchida, T; Yu, X J; Uchiyama, T et al. (1989) Identification of a unique spotted fever group rickettsia from humans in Japan. J Infect Dis 159:1122-6
Fan, M Y; Yu, X J; Walker, D H (1988) Antigenic analysis of Chinese strains of spotted fever group rickettsiae by protein immunoblotting. Am J Trop Med Hyg 39:497-501
Li, H; Lenz, B; Walker, D H (1988) Protective monoclonal antibodies recognize heat-labile epitopes on surface proteins of spotted fever group rickettsiae. Infect Immun 56:2587-93
Walker, D H (1988) Diagnosis of rickettsial diseases. Pathol Annu 23 Pt 2:69-96
Wang, J G; Walker, D H (1987) Identification of spotted fever group rickettsiae from human and tick sources in the People's Republic of China. J Infect Dis 156:665-9
Fan, M Y; Walker, D H; Liu, Q H et al. (1987) Rickettsial and serologic evidence for prevalent spotted fever rickettsiosis in inner Mongolia. Am J Trop Med Hyg 36:615-20
Fan, M Y; Wang, J G; Jiang, Y X et al. (1987) Isolation of a spotted fever group rickettsia from a patient and related ecologic investigations in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. J Clin Microbiol 25:628-32

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