Molecular and morphological identification of a human biting tick, Amblyomma testudinarium (Acari: Ixodidae), in Taiwan

Genetic identity and morphological features of a human biting tick, Amblyomma testudinarium , were determined for the first time in Taiwan. Morphological features of adult male and female ticks of Am. testudinarium were observed and photographed by a stereo- microscope. The genetic identity was anal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental & applied acarology 2017-04, Vol.71 (4), p.401-414
Main Authors: Chao, Li-Lian, Lu, Chun-Wei, Lin, Ying-Fang, Shih, Chien-Ming
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Ecology
Animal Genetics and Genomics
Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
Animals
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biting
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Divergence
DNA
DNA, Ribosomal
Entomology
Female
Gene sequencing
Genetic distance
Host range
Humans
Ixodidae - anatomy & histology
Ixodidae - genetics
Japan
Life Sciences
Male
Mitochondrial DNA
Morphology
Nucleotide sequence
Phylogeny
Ribosomal DNA
Species
Species Specificity
Taiwan
Ticks
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Summary:Genetic identity and morphological features of a human biting tick, Amblyomma testudinarium , were determined for the first time in Taiwan. Morphological features of adult male and female ticks of Am. testudinarium were observed and photographed by a stereo- microscope. The genetic identity was analyzed by comparing the sequences of mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA gene obtained from 18 strains of ticks representing 10 species of Amblyomma , and four outgroup species of Dermacentor and Rhipicephalus ticks. Nine major clades could be easily distinguished by neighbour-joining analysis and were congruent by maximum-parsimony method. All these Am. testudinarium ticks collected from Taiwan and Japan were genetically affiliated to a monophyletic group with highly homogeneous sequence (99.8–100% similarity), and can be discriminated from other species of Amblyomma and other genera of ticks ( Dermacentor and Rhipicephalus ) with a sequence divergence ranging from 6.9 to 23.9%. Moreover, intra- and inter-species analysis based on the genetic distance (GD) values indicated a lower level (GD  0.108) of Amblyomma ticks, as well as outgroup (GD > 0.172) species. Our results provide the first distinguished features of adult Am. testudinarium ticks and the first genetic identification of Am. testudinarium ticks collected from humans in Taiwan. Seasonal prevalence, host range, and vectorial capacity of this tick species in Taiwan need to be further clarified.
ISSN:0168-8162
1572-9702
DOI:10.1007/s10493-017-0119-9