The Anaplasma marginale Genome Sequencing Project

Anaplasma marginale is the most prevalent tick-borne pathogen of cattle worldwide. The disease results in significant morbidity and mortality in U.S. cattle and is a constraint to export. Critically, there is no federally licensed vaccine available and the live, blood-based vaccines widely used in tropical countries cannot be licensed in the U.S. due to the risk of transmitting both known and unknown pathogens. A vaccine for anaplasmosis is a priority for the USDA National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and many other research groups worldwide.

A. marginale is the type species for the genus Anaplasma which contains both animal and human pathogens and none of these tick-transmitted obligate intracellular bacteria have been targeted for genome sequencing. The genomic information would have a broad applicability to these closely related species.

As A. marginale is an obligate intracellular bacterium, contamination of bacterial DNA with host cell DNA is a significant problem. The Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) strategy that we have chosen identifies clones of bovine origin at an early stage and excludes them from the study. The A. marginale genome has been sized at 1.2 Mb, therefore we expect 12-14 100 kb BAC clones to provide full coverage of the genome.

The St. Maries strain genome project was initiated with funding from the USDA/ARS CRIS# 5348-32000-016-00D under the direction of Don Knowles and support for this project was continued with a grant from the USDA CSREES# 2001-52100-11342 awarded to Kelly Brayton and Guy Palmer.

The St. Maries strain genome has been published and appears in PNAS 102:844-849 2005

 BLAST the Anaplasma marginale St. Maries and Florida strain genomes                 

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