Majee, P. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2026

Spotted fever Rickettsia and relapsing fever Borrelia in rodents from southern India

Bacterial zoonoses constitute a substantial fraction of emerging infectious diseases. In this study, we investigated the presence of pathogenic bacterial genera--Rickettsia, Borrelia, Orientia, Leptospira, and Coxiella--in rodents from southern India. We detected low circulation of Rickettsia (7.26%), Borrelia (6.45%), and Leptospira (0.8%), whereas Orientia and Coxiella were not detected in the rodents sampled. Notably, we observed contrasting patterns of tissue association, with rickettsiae detected exclusively in pooled organ tissues and borreliae detected only in blood, suggesting the influence of pathogen biology in detection probabilities. Our phylogenetic analyses further revealed spotted fever group rickettsiae and relapsing fever group borreliae in both synanthropic and forest-associated rats, highlighting a potential transmission risk to people and livestock in the region. By revealing the circulation of zoonotic bacteria in new host species, this study underscores the need for systematic surveillance of wildlife to better characterize bacterial diversity and its public health implications.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

Scrutinizing the SARS-CoV-2 protein information for the designing an effective vaccine encompassing both the T-cell and B-cell epitopes

Novel SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a pandemic condition world-wide and has been declared as public health emergency of International concern by WHO in a very short span of time. The community transmission of this highly infectious virus has severely affected various parts of China, Italy, Spain and USA among others. The prophylactic solution against SARS-CoV-2 infection is challenging due to the high mutation rate of its RNA genome. Herein, we exploited a next generation vaccinology approach to construct a multi-epitope vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2 with high antigenicity, safety and efficacy to combat this deadly infectious agent. The whole proteome was scrutinized for the screening of highly conserved, antigenic, non-allergen and non-toxic epitopes having high population coverage that can elicit both humoral and cellular mediated immune response against COVID-19 infection. These epitopes along with four different adjuvants were utilized to construct a multi-epitope vaccine candidate that can generate strong immunological memory response having high efficacy in humans. Various physiochemical analyses revealed the formation of a stable vaccine product having a high propensity to form a protective solution against the detrimental SARS-CoV-2 strain with high efficacy. The vaccine candidate interacted with immunological receptor TLR3 with high affinity depicting the generation of innate immunity. Further, the codon optimization and in silico expression show the plausibility of the high expression and easy purification of the vaccine product. Thus, this present study provides an initial platform of the rapid generation of an efficacious protective vaccine for combating COVID-19.

immunology↗