Spiroplasma Species, Groups, and Subgroups from North American Tabanidae

Twenty-one triply cloned spiroplasma strains from the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, all isolated from tabanid (Diptera:Tabanidae) flies or serologically related to strains from tabanids, were compared reciprocally by spiroplasma deformation (DF) and metabolism inhibition (MI) serological tests. Many of the strains were also tested against 28 antisera representing known spiroplasma groups, subgroups, and putative groups isolated from nontabanid hosts. Relationships among strains were indicated by reciprocal cross-reactivity in both DF and MI tests. The strains were found to represent 11 recognized spiroplasma groups or subgroups. On the basis of serological, biochemical, and genomic data, strain BARC 1901 from Tabanus lineola appeared to represent a previously unrecognized candidate group. Strain BARC 2649, also from T. lineola, also appeared to represent a new group, but its morphology, arginine utilization, and some one-way serological crossing patterns suggested that it may be distantly related to group VIII spiroplasmas. Morphological, serological, and genomic data were used to place tabanid spiroplasma strains into three informal clusters. These are (i) groups IV (strain B31) and XXXI (strain HYOS-1); (ii) the three existing subgroups and a new candidate subgroup of group VIII represented by strain BARC 1357 plus ungrouped strain BARC 2649; and (iii) 14 strains, including EC-1 and TATS-1 (group XIV); strains TN-1 and TAAS-2 (group XVIII); strains TG-1, TASS-1, and BARC 4689 (group XXIII), strains TALS-2 (group XXVII), strain TABS-2 (group XXXII), and strains TAUS-1 and TABS-1 (group XXXIII) and ungrouped but closely related strains BARC 1901, BARC 2264 and BARC 2555. Analysis of tabanids from other geographic regions probably will substantially increase the number of known spiroplasma groups from this insect family. Received: 23 April 1997 / Accepted: 31 May 1997