Molecular prevalence and diversity of Anaplasmataceae and Bartonellaceae in indigenous Muridae from South Africa

The main aim of the current study was to determine the prevalence and diversity of potentially zoonotic bacterial genera in accurately identified indigenous rodents from South Africa. Bacterial prevalence and diversity were determined by PCR amplification and sequence analyses. Rodents were molecularly identified by amplification and sequence analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene region. Three species (Aethomys ineptus, Mastomys coucha and Otomys angoniensis) belonging to murid species complexes were identified. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses revealed that both the proposed subspecies (R. dilectus dilectus and R. d. chakae) within the recently erected Rhabdomys dilectus occur in Hammanskraal and at the University of Pretoria Experimental farm, both in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. An overall bacterial prevalence of 38.6 % was observed in kidney samples of commensal and natural indigenous rodents after molecular screening with broad range 16S rRNA gene primers. Nucleotide sequence analyses identified a diverse range of bacterial genera namely, Bartonella, Anaplasma, Helicobacter, Burkholderia, Streptococcus, Aerococcus and Lactobacillus. Some members of these genera have been identified as causative agents of human and animal diseases, being transmitted either through environmental contamination or through haematophagous arthropod vectors. Subsequent genus-specific bacterial screening focussed on vector-borne genera identified in the commensal and natural rodent populations sampled. Bartonella prevalence and genetic diversity was compared between a natural and commensal population of the southern multimammate mouse (M. coucha) using two gene regions (Citrate synthase gene and NADH dehydrogenase gamma subunit gene). A significantly higher infection prevalence was detected in the commensal population (92.9 %) as compared to the natural population (56.9 %). No differences however, were detected between infection status and the ectoparasite loads calculated for both rodent populations. Apart from several novel Bartonella strains identified in both M. coucha populations, phylogenetic analyses also identified a species of known zoonotic potential (B. elizabethae) in both populations. The present study represents one of the first to screen indigenous rodents for tick-borne members of the bacterial family Anaplasmataceae. Anaplasma bovis-like DNA was detected in five of the six rodent species sampled (A. ineptus, Lemniscomys rosalia, M. coucha, O. angoniensis and R. dilectus) at an overall prevalence of 39.2 %. The potentially zoonotic Ehrlichia ewingii was detected in M. coucha samples only at a prevalence of 5.3 %. The diverse bacterial genera detected in commensal and natural populations of indigenous rodents comprise members of zoonotic potential and agricultural significance, highlighting the importance of continuous disease surveillance of indigenous rodents.