Rickettsiales | |
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Rickettsia rickettsii (red dots) in the cell of a deer tick | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Pseudomonadota |
Class: | Alphaproteobacteria |
Order: | Rickettsiales Gieszczykiewicz 1939 (Approved Lists 1980) |
Families | |
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The Rickettsiales, informally called rickettsias, are an order of small Alphaproteobacteria. They are obligate intracellular parasites, and some are notable pathogens, including Rickettsia, which causes a variety of diseases in humans, and Ehrlichia, which causes diseases in livestock. Another genus of well-known Rickettsiales is the Wolbachia, which infect about two-thirds of all arthropods and nearly all filarial nematodes.[2] Genetic studies support the endosymbiotic theory according to which mitochondria and related organelles developed from members of this group.[3]
The Rickettsiales are difficult to culture, as they rely on living eukaryotic host cells for their survival.