Molecular detection of Rickettsia felis in dogs, rodents and cat fleas in Zambia

Parasites & Vectors

Table 1 Primer sets used for PCR amplification and sequencing

Target gene	Oligonucleotide sequence (5′–3′)	Specificity	Tm (°C)	Size (bp)	References
gltA	F-CGAACTTACCGCTATTAGAATG^a	Rickettsia genus-specific	54	581	[30]
gltA	R-CTTTAAGAGCGATAGCTTCAAG^a	Rickettsia genus-specific	54	581	[30]
OmpA	F-TGCAGGGCTTAGATATTCGGC^a	Spotted fever group-specific	48	258	This study
OmpA	R-AAGCTGTTGGTAAAGGAGCA^a	Spotted fever group-specific	48	258	This study
OmpB	F-GGACCTGAAGCTGGAGCAAT^a	Rickettsia genus-specific	48	776	This study
OmpB	R-CTGTCAGGCTGGCTGATGAA^a	Rickettsia genus-specific	48	776	This study
bioB	F-ATGTTCGGGCTTCCGGTATG	R. felis-/ R. asembonensis-specific	60	120	[31]
	R-CCGATTCAGCAGGTTCTTCAA
	Probe 6FAM-GCTGCGGCGGTATTTTAGGAATGGG-TAMRA
RfelB	F-TAATTTTAACGGAACAGACGGT	R. felis-specific	60	97	[32]
	R-GCCTAAACTTCCTGTAACATTAAAG
	Probe FAM-TGCTGCTGGTGGCGGTGCTA-BHQ

^aPrimer used for PCR and sequencing
Abbreviations: Tm, annealing temperature; size, amplicon product size, F, forward primer; R, reverse primer

ISSN: 1756-3305