CROSS-REACTING ANTIGENS BETWEEN NEORICKETTSIA-HELMINTHOECA AND EHRLICHIA SPECIES, SHOWN BY IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE AND WESTERN IMMUNOBLOTTING

Dogs orally infected with Neorickettsia helminthoeca developed immunoglobulin G titers against Erlichia risticii, Erlichia sennetsu, and Erlichia canis similar to those against N. helminthoeca antigen, as determined by immunofluorescence. Western immunoblotting showed that the major common antigens shared among the microorganisms were 80- or 78-kDa and 64-kDa polypeptides. In contrast, horse anti-E. risticii and anti-E. sennetsu and dog anti-E. canis sera reacted more weakly to N. helminthoeca antigen than to homologous antigens in both immunofluorescence and Western immunoblotting. Antisera raised in other species of animals, i.e., mouse anti-E. canis and rabbit anti-E. risticii and anti-E. sennetsu sera, however, all reacted with the 64-kDa antigen of N. helminthoeca. This strong antigenic cross-reactivity and similarity in Western immunoblotting reaction profiles indicate that N. helminthoeca is antigenically closely related to E. risticii and E. sennetsu and less so to E. canis. In both immunofluorescence and Western immunoblotting, E. canis shared fewer common antigens with E. risticii and E. sennetsu than N. helminthoeca did. It is reasonable to conclude that these results may have both diagnostic and taxonomic significance.