The mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis of the tick Dermacentor everestianus Hirst, 1926 (Acari: Ixodidae)

Abstract

The tick Dermacentor everestianus is widely distributed in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China and can transmit many zoonotic pathogens. In the current study, the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of D. everestianus was sequenced through Illumina HiSeq sequencing. The mt genome is 15,191 bp in length which contains 37 genes, including 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and 22 transfer RNA genes. The overall GC content reached 21.20%, whereas the GC content in the gene region was 21.40%, and in the intergenetic region was 20.50%. Two control regions were sequenced from mt genome of D. everestianus, one located between tRNA-Cys and tRNA-Leu, and the other one was found between rrnS and tRNA-Ile. Two tandem repeats were found between tRNA-Glu and nad1. A phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the complete mitogenome of D. everestianus and 32 other ixodid tick mitogenomes to assess their phylogenetic relationships. D. everestianus is phylogenetically clustered with the tick D. silvarum and D. nuttalli. This is the first complete mt genome of D. everestianus, which provides a useful reference for future studies on systematics and population genetics of this tick species.