A total of 178 adult ticks were collected from 32 pet dogs from five veterinary clinics in Shihezi City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), northwestern China. All the ticks were identified by comprehensive morphological and genetic analyses, and rickettsiae were detected by seven Rickettsia-specific genetic markers in the ticks. The ticks collected were identified as Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato. Twenty-one of the 178 samples (11.8%) were positive for rickettsiae. Among these, in 13 (61.9%) samples Candidatus R. barbariae were identified, in five (23.8%) samples R. massiliae, and in three (14.3%) samples R. conorii. This study indicates that more attention should be paid to rickettsial infection in pet dogs and their ticks, because the latter may pose an epidemiological risk for tick-borne transmission of rickettsiae to human beings.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10493-018-00337-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
To date, there is no report on the genetic diversity of ticks in these regions. A total of 370 representative ticks from the south and east regions of Kazakhstan (SERK) and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) were selected for molecular comparison. A fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene, ranging from 631 bp to 889 bp, was used to analyze genetic diversity among these ticks. Phylogenetic analyses indicated 7 tick species including Hyalomma asiaticum, Hyalomma detritum, Hyalomma anatolicum, Dermacentor marginatus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus turanicus and Haemaphysalis erinacei from the SERK clustered together with conspecific ticks from the XUAR. The network diagram of haplotypes showed that i) Hy. asiaticum from Almaty and Kyzylorda Oblasts together with that from Yuli County of XUAR constituted haplogroup H-2, and the lineage from Chimkent City of South Kazakhstan was newly evolved; and ii) the R. turanicus ticks sampled in Israel, Almaty, South Kazakhstan, Usu City, Ulugqat and Baicheng Counties of XUAR were derivated from an old lineage in Alataw City of XUAR. These findings indicate that: i) Hy. asiaticum, R. turanicus and Ha. erinacei shared genetic similarities between the SERK and XUAR; and ii) Hy. marginatum and D. reticulatus show differences in their evolution.
The article reflects the data of scientific research that can serve the practice of selection and breeding work under conditions of various forms of ownership, as well as the improvement of selection and breeding work and the technology of production of high-quality and competitive sheep products in the conditions of year-round use of the foothill-steppe and desert pastures of the south of Kazakhstan. The research of polymorphism systems of serum proteins of sheep's blood of different intra-breed types by gender and age groups revealed the presence of certain allele combinations and the ratio of transferrin and hemoglobin genotypes. It has been established that these animals have their own specific range of frequencies of occurrence of alleles and combinations of genotypes. Based on the results obtained, the possibility of using genetic blood markers in the early assessment of the productive qualities of animals has been established. As a result of scientifically based breeding methods, in the “Batai-Shu” LLP in Zhambyl region created a breeding australized herd of the South Kazakh Merino breed with a white wool yolk, a cut of washed wool of 3.1 kg with a yield of 48-50%.
Background The Republic of Kazakhstan, located in Central Asia, ranks as the world’s largest landlocked country, and borders five countries including China. There is a 1783 km long borderline between the South and East regions of Kazakhstan and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR, northwestern China). To date, there is no report on the genetic diversity of ticks in these regions. Methods During 2015–2019, a total of 4392 hard ticks (representatives of ten species) were collected from 605 animals (sheep, cattle, camels, dogs and hedgehogs) at 24 sampling sites belonging to 15 districts in southeastern Kazakhstan. After morphological identification, 213 specimens of these ticks were selected for molecular analyses. In addition, 157 hard ticks collected from sheep and camels between 2015 and 2018 in seven districts of XUAR were used for comparison. Following DNA extraction, a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene, ranging from 631 bp to 889 bp, was used to analyze genetic diversity among these ticks. Findings: Phylogenetic analyses indicated that i) five tick species including Hyalomma detritum, Hyalomma asiaticum, Rhipicephalus turanicus, Dermacentor reticulatus and Haemaphysalis erinacei from Kazakhstan clustered together with conspecific ticks from XUAR; ii) the phylogenetic separation of Dermacentor marginatus from Kazakhstan and XUAR was highly supported; and iii) Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato from Alamaty Oblast was more closely related to a specimen from Iran than to that from XUAR. The network diagram of haplotypes showed that iv) Hy. asiaticum from Almaty and Kyzylorda (Kazakhstan) together with that from Yuli County of XUAR constituted an ancestral haplogroup; and v) three lineages of Rh. turanicus (from Israel, Almaty and South Kazakhstan, as well as from Usu city, Ulugqat and Baicheng Counties of XUAR) might have originated from an ancestral lineage in Alataw city, XUAR. Conclusions These findings indicate that: (i) mitochondrial lineages of some tick species are shared between southern, eastern regions of Kazakhstan and northwestern China; (ii) common evolutionary origin of Hy. asiaticum and Rh. turanicus in these regions might be attributed to historical international trade and movements of wildlife; and (iii) certain tick species show clear differences between Kazakhstan and XUAR, either in terms of abundance (e.g. Hy. scupense, Hy. marginatum) or exhibiting a phylogenetic split between these regions (relevant to D. marginatus).
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