Analysis of ehrlichial p28 gene expression in a murine model of persistent infection.

Historically, ehrlichioses were tick-borne diseases of veterinary medical importance and are now important emerging infectious diseases in humans. p28s are encoded by multigene families with ORFs tandemly arranged with intergenic spaces of variable lengths. We reported initial sequencing of the Ehrlichia muris p28 locus. A model of persistent infection was described and provided tools for study of persistent ehrlichial infection. We completed the sequence of the E. muris p28 locus and examined mRNA expression.