213 © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. Short Communication Novel Borrelia Genotypes from Brazil Indicate a New Group of Borrelia spp. Associated with South American Bats Felipe R. Jorge, 1,2 Sebastián Muñoz-Leal, 3 Glauber M. B. de Oliveira, 1 Maria Carolina A. Serpa, 1 Meylling M. L. Magalhães, 2,4 Lorena M. B. de Oliveira, 2 Francisco B. P. Moura, 5 Bruno M. Teixeira, 4 and Marcelo B. Labruna 1,6, 1 Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, Av. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, 05508-270, Brazil, 2 PostGraduate Program in Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary, State University of Ceará - Av. Dr. Silas Munguba, 1700 - Itaperi, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil, 3 Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad de Concepción, Av. Vicente Méndez 595, casilla 537, Chillán, Ñuble, Chile, 4 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, INTA University Center - UNINTA, R. Antônio Rodrigues Magalhães, 359 - Dom Expedito, Sobral, CE, Brazil, 5 Department of Anthropozoonoses, Department of Health of Ceará, Av. Almirante Barroso, 600 – Praia de Iracema, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil, and 6 Corresponding author, e-mail: labruna@usp.br Subject Editor: Stephen Rich Received 27 June 2022; Editorial decision 28 September 2022. Abstract The bacterial genus Borrelia comprises vector-borne spirochetes that have been classified into three major groups: the relapsing fever group (RFG), the Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner sensu lato group (Bbsl), and the reptile-monotreme group (RMG). All three groups have been as- sociated mainly with ticks and wild animals, especially rodents, birds, and reptiles. Here, we searched for Borrelia infection among 99 vampire bats [Desmodus rotundus (É. Geoffroy)] (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from the Brazilian semiarid region. Through molecular investigation of bat internal organs, haplotypes of a po- tentially novel Borrelia organism were detected in 5% (5/99) of the bats. Borrelia DNA was detected in the liver, blood, spleen, kidney and brain, suggesting a systemic infection. Phylogenetic analyses inferred from partial sequences of the borrelial rrs and flaB genes indicated that the vampire bat-associated Borrelia sp. of this study form a monophyletic group with a newly reported Borrelia associated with a Colombia bat, distinct from the three main currently recognized groups of Borrelia spp., Bbsl, RFG, and RMG. These novel bat-associated Borrelia spp. from South America might have arisen through an independent event along the borrelial evo- lutionary history, since previous molecular reports of Borrelia organisms in bats or bat-associated ticks from Africa, Europe, and North America were all classified in the RFG. Key words: Caatinga, Ceará, Desmodus rotundus, Spirochete, tick-borne diseases The bacterial genus Borrelia comprises spirochetes of the Borreliaceae family, which infect vertebrates (mammals, birds, and reptiles) and are transmitted by soft (argasids) and hard (ixodids) ticks, and in a lesser extent by lice. Because the recent proposal to split Borreliaceae species into two genera (Borrelia and Borreliella) (Barbour and Gupta 2021) is still controversial, herein we opted to consider all Borreliaceae species as belonging to the genus Borrelia, as recently discussed (Margos et al. 2022). The Borrelia species have been classifed into two major groups based on phylogenetic analyses: the relapsing fever group (RFG) and the Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner sensu lato group (Bbsl). The RFG is more diverse, composed by species primarily associated with either argasids or ixodids of different genera, or lice. In contrast, the Bbsl is primarily associated with hard ticks of the genus Ixodes. Recently, Borrelia organisms associated with ixodid ticks of the genera Amblyomma, Bothriocroton and Hyalomma were shown through phylogenetic analyses to form an independent lineage from RFG and Bbsl, and were classifed in a third group, the reptile- monotreme group (RMG) (Margos et al. 2018). Journal of Medical Entomology, 60(1), 2023, 213–217 https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjac160 Advance Access Publication Date: 21 October 2022 Short Communication Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/60/1/213/6767844 by guest on 11 February 2024