{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T03:07:40Z","timestamp":1773198460866,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773100800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n is an obligate intracellular gram-negative bacterium belonging to the family Anaplasmataceae and the order Rickettsiales, which is primarily transmitted by the bite of ixodid ticks. To investigate the prevalence risk and genetic diversity of\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n in southeastern and central Shanxi, China, Ixodid ticks were sampled from sheep and cattle host animals in 11 different geographic regions during 2022\u20132024. These tick samples were then subjected to\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n detection via nested PCR combined with partial\n 16S rRNA<\/jats:italic>\n gene sequencing. The analysis revealed that 246 of 350 ticks were positive for\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n . Among the survey areas, the prevalence rates of\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n infection were 67.50% (27\/40) in Wangjiazhuang Village, 74.19% (46\/62) in Baitupo Village, 52.38% (11\/21) in Daxigou Village, 66.67% (26\/39) in Matian Town, 80.95% (34\/42) in Zhuanghe Village, 75.00% (30\/40) in Siyuan Village, 68.75% (11\/21) in Xiwangyong Village, 70.83% (17\/24) in Dongsitou Village, 76.19% (16\/21) in Taling, 73.68% (14\/19) in Houbu Village, 66.67% (14\/21) in Shipan Village. The prevalence of\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n is significantly higher in female ticks compared to males (89.73%\n vs<\/jats:italic>\n 11.49%,\n \u03c7<\/jats:italic>\n 2<\/jats:sup>\n =\u202f191.614,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt;\u202f0.001). Sequencing results revealed that this study identified four species of\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n namely\n Anaplasma phagocytophilum<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n Anaplasma ovis<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n Anaplasma marginale<\/jats:italic>\n and\n Anaplasma bovis<\/jats:italic>\n . Meanwhile, four strains belonging to the order Rickettsiales were also detected and named \u201cUncultured Rickettsiaceae bacterium\u201d. Phylogenetic tree analysis examined the clustering and genetic relationships between the identified four\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n species and other\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n species available in the NCBI database. The Rickettsiaceae bacteria obtained in this study were also included in the phylogenetic tree construction, and they were found to form the out group as the root of the tree. Haplotype phylogeographic dynamics provided an in-depth exploration of the subtle evolutionary differences among the same species of\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n and revealed their evolutionary pathways. It was shown that the evolutionary paths of\n A. phagocytophilum<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n A. ovis<\/jats:italic>\n , and\n A. bovis<\/jats:italic>\n were more complex compared to that of\n A. marginale<\/jats:italic>\n . The 110\n A. phagocytophilum<\/jats:italic>\n sequences obtained in this study were classified into 13 haplotypes, while the 36\n A. ovis<\/jats:italic>\n sequences were grouped into 10 haplotypes.\n A. bovis<\/jats:italic>\n and\n A. marginale<\/jats:italic>\n each exhibited a single haplotype, as only one sequence has been obtained for each of them. In conclusion, a high prevalence of\n Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n infection was observed in ticks from southeastern and central Shanxi, China. This finding lays a theoretical foundation for the formulation and implementation of relevant prevention and control measures in the study area. Continuous monitoring and epidemiological surveys of pathogens in host animals will be required in the future.\n <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1778059","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T06:42:52Z","timestamp":1773124972000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Molecular detection and genetic diversity of Anaplasma in ticks from southeastern and central Shanxi, China"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jia","family":"Cui","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Changzhi Medical College","place":["Changzhi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Changzhi Medical College","place":["Changzhi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fengping","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Changzhi Medical College","place":["Changzhi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Huaxiang","family":"Rao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Changzhi Medical College","place":["Changzhi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hongbing","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Changzhi Medical College","place":["Changzhi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Liqing","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Cellular Physiology, Ministry of Education, Department of Physiology, Shanxi Medical University","place":["Taiyuan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Juan","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Changzhi Medical College","place":["Changzhi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102765","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2025.102765","article-title":"The epidemiology and clinical manifestations of anaplasmosis in humans: a systematic review of case reports","volume":"18","author":"Acosta-Espa\u00f1a","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. 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