Many ehrlichial proteins that were previously considered to have unknown function (hypothetical), including TRPs and Anks, are now known to have defined functions during infection (Wakeel et al., 2009; Luo et al., 2011; Luo and McBride, 2012; Luo et al., 2018; Byerly et al., 2021). The gene discussed is ANKRD46; the disease is infection.