High degree of mitochondrial gene heterogeneity in the bat tick species Ixodes vespertilionis, I. ariadnae and I. simplex from Eurasia - PubMed (original) (raw)

doi: 10.1186/s13071-015-1056-2.

Agustín Estrada-Peña 2, Jenő Kontschán 3, Olivier Plantard 4 5, Bernd Kunz 6, Andrei D Mihalca 7, Adora Thabah 8, Snežana Tomanović 9, Jelena Burazerović 10, Nóra Takács 11, Tamás Görföl 12 13, Péter Estók 14, Vuong Tan Tu 15, Krisztina Szőke 16, Isabel G Fernández de Mera 17, José de la Fuente 18 19, Mamoru Takahashi 20, Takeo Yamauchi 21, Ai Takano 22

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High degree of mitochondrial gene heterogeneity in the bat tick species Ixodes vespertilionis, I. ariadnae and I. simplex from Eurasia

Sándor Hornok et al. Parasit Vectors. 2015.

Abstract

Background: Phylogeographical studies allow precise genetic comparison of specimens, which were collected over large geographical ranges and belong to the same or closely related animal species. These methods have also been used to compare ticks of veterinary-medical importance. However, relevant data are missing in the case of ixodid ticks of bats, despite (1) the vast geographical range of both Ixodes vespertilionis and Ixodes simplex, and (2) the considerable uncertainty in their taxonomy, which is currently unresolvable by morphological clues.

Methods: In the present study 21 ticks were selected from collections or were freshly removed from bats or cave walls in six European and four Asian countries. The DNA was extracted and PCRs were performed to amplify part of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI), 16S and 12S rDNA genes, followed by sequencing for identification and molecular-phylogenetic comparison.

Results: No morphological differences were observed between Ixodes vespertilionis specimens from Spain and from other parts of Europe, but corresponding genotypes had only 94.6 % COI sequence identity. An I. vespertilionis specimen collected in Vietnam was different both morphologically and genetically (i.e. with only 84.1 % COI sequence identity in comparison with I. vespertilionis from Europe). Two ticks (collected in Vietnam and in Japan) formed a monophyletic clade and shared morphological features with I. ariadnae, recently described and hitherto only reported in Europe. In addition, two Asiatic specimens of I. simplex were shown to differ markedly from European genotypes of the same species. Phylogenetic relationships of ticks showed similar clustering patterns with those of their associated bat host species.

Conclusions: Although all three ixodid bat tick species evaluated in the present study appear to be widespread in Eurasia, they exhibit pronounced genetic differences. Data of this study also reflect that I. vespertilionis may represent a species complex.

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Figures

Fig. 1

Fig. 1

a Phylogenetic relationships of bat ticks collected in the present study (accession number in inverse colour) based on COI gene and related data from the GenBank. Light yellow background indicates isolates of I. vespertilionis, with overlaying background colours according to geographical regions as indicated. Purple background colour stands for genotypes of I. ariadnae, and pink for those of I. simplex. b Phylogenetic relationships of bat species that were hosts of the tick species (according to the colour code of the tick phylogenetic tree) analysed in the present study. Branch lengths correlate to the number of substitutions inferred according to the scale shown

Fig. 2

Fig. 2

Phylogenetic comparison of 16S rDNA sequences of bat tick genotypes identified in the present study (inverse colour) and other sequences from the GenBank. Branch lengths correlate to the number of substitutions inferred according to the scale shown

Fig. 3

Fig. 3

The approximated degree of COI sequence identity between highly divergent genotypes of I. vespertilionis and I. ariadnae. Background colour of species names corresponds to the one used on Fig. 1a. Three sequences are from other studies (KJ490306-7: [7]; AB231667: [19])

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