Mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences and phylogenetic relationships of species of Rhipicephalus and other tick genera among Metastriata (Acari: Ixodidae)

Abstract

The mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene sequences of the following eight European Metastriata tick species were obtained by direct polymerase-chain-reaction cycle sequencing and silver-staining methods: Rhipicephalus bursa, R. pusillus, R. sanguineus, R. turanicus, Boophilus annulatus, Dermacentor marginatus, Haemaphysalis punctata, and Hyalomma lusitanicum. This mitochondrial gene seems to be a good marker for the establishment of genetic relationships among closely related tick species, but it does not seem to be useful for comparisons of distantly related taxa. The molecular data provide very strong support for the monophyly of the Rhipicephalinae, including Hyalomma spp. However, the genus Rhipicephalus may not be considered a monophyletic group; in all analyses carried out in this study, R. bursa clustered with Boophilus spp. The high percentage of similarity (98.7%) observed between R. sanguineus and R. turanicus sequences would suggest that these species recently diverged within the Rhipicephalus genus. Phylogenetic analyses showed a monophyletic relationship among Amblyomminae taxa. The relationships between Haemaphysalis species and the true placement of this genus within Metastriata could not be resolved.

Amblyomma parvum Aragão, 1908 (Acari: Ixodidae): Phylogeography and systematic considerations

“…The lysed tissues were further processed as previously described (Beati and Keirans, 2001;Beati et al, 2012). Five mitochondrial gene sequences, 12SrDNA (ribosomal small-subunit RNA gene sequence), 16SrDNA (ribosomal small-subunit RNA gene sequence), COI (Cytochrome oxidase subunit I), COII (Cytochrome oxidase subunit II), and d-loop (DL, control region) were amplified by using previously reported sets of primers (Barret and Hebert, 2005;Beati and Keirans, 2001;Beati et al, 2012;Mangold et al, 1998). In addition, a portion of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) was amplified by modifying previously published methods, with 35 instead of 27 cycles of annealing (Beati et al, 2012;McLain et al, 1995).…”

Ticks infesting wild small rodents in three areas of the state of São Paulo, Brazil

“…larvae, collected samples were compared morphologically with Amblyomma ovale larvae originated from a laboratory colony, as previously described (BARBIeRI et al, 2008;SZABÓ et al, 2013.). The morphological identification of these larvae was confirmed by molecular analysis of a few specimens, which had the DNA extracted by the guanidine isothiocyanate method (SANGIoNI et al, 2005) and tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting a fragment of 460 nucleotides of the tick mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene, according to MANGoLD et al (1998). Amplicons of the expected size were generated to DNA sequencing in an automatic sequencer (Model ABI 3500 Genetic Analyzer; Applied Biosystems/Thermo Fisher Scientific, Foster City, CA, USA) according to manufacturer's instructions.…”

Infestação por carrapatos Argasidae e Ixodidae em pequenos mamíferos silvestres da Estação Experimental Rafael Fernandes, Mossoró/RN

“…As larvas foram mensuradas por fotografias digitais capturadas com uma câmera Olympus DP70 acoplada a um microscópio Olympus BX40, usando o software Image-Plus Pro v5.1 e considerando os caracteres morfológicos propostos por Venzal et al (2008). Quando não era possível à identificação através da morfologia, as larvas foram submetidas à extração de DNA para caracterização molecular (Mangold et al 1998).…”