Phylogeny of Rickettsia spp. inferred by comparing sequences of 'gene D', which encodes an intracytoplasmic protein

'Gene D' is the PS120-protein-encoding gene, first described in Rickettsia conorii and Rickettsia japonica. Sequence analysis of a 3030 bp fragment of 'gene D' in 24 representatives of the genus Rickettsia was carried out to complete phylogenetic analyses previously inferred by comparison of gene sequences encoding citrate synthase, 17 kDa antigen and rOmpA and rOmpB. The phylogenetic relationships between rickettsiae were inferred from the comparison of both the gene and the derived protein sequences, using the parsimony, neighbour-joining and maximum-likelihood methods. Five distinct groups of rickettsiae were identified. These were: the Rickettsia massiliae group, including R, massiliae, Bar 29, Rickettsia rhipicephali and Rickettsia aeschlimannii; the Rickettsia rickettsii group containing Rickettsia sibirica, Rickettsia mongolotimonae', Rickettsia parkeri, strain S, Rickettsia africae, the R. conorii complex, Rickettsia slovaca, Rickettsia honei, R. rickettsii. R. japonica and Rickettsia montanensis; the group currently containing only Rickettsia helvetica; the Rickettsia akari group including Rickettsia australis, R. akari and the ELB agent; Rickettsia prowarekii and Rickettsia typhi clustered in the typhus group. As significant bootstrap values were obtained for most of the nodes, sequence comparison of 'gene D' should be considered as a complementary approach in phylogenetic studies of rickettsiae.