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Genetic diversity of Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis (Acari: Ixodidae) in western China

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Abstract

Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis as an endemic species in China mainly infests domestic animals and causes great harm to animals and humans in Northwestern plateau. However, there is no information about genetic diversity within the recently established populations of this tick species. Therefore, the present study analyzed the fragments of mitochondrial 16S rDNA, COI and the nuclear gene ITS1 of 56 H. qinghaiensis ticks across four regions of China which are main endemic areas of this species. Analysis showed 98.1–100% (16S rDNA), 97.9–100% (COI), 99.7–100% (ITS1) identity within individuals. For these sequences, 9, 15 and 8 haplotypes were found for 16S rDNA, COI and ITS1, respectively. Ticks from Yongjing were the most variable group, followed by Lintan, Huangyuan, and Tianzhu. Based on parallel analysis of the mitochondrial and nuclear genetic diversity of H. qinghaiensis, our results indicated that mitochondrial markers (especially COI) were much more useful than nuclear ITS for intraspecific genetic variability analysis.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC1202000, 2016YFC1202002); NSFC (31572511, 31471967, 31402189); 973 Program (2015CB150300); ASTIP, FRIP (2014ZL010), CAAS; NBCIS CARS-38; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center program for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, 730046, Gansu, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaocui Liu, Ze Chen, Qiaoyun Ren, Jin Luo, Xiaofeng Xu, Feng Wu, Wenge Liu, Jiawei Hao, Jianxun Luo, Hong Yin & Guangyuan Liu

  2. College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Henan, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaocui Liu

  3. Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Disease and Zoonose, Yangzhou, 225009, People’s Republic of China

    Hong Yin

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  1. Xiaocui Liu
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  2. Ze Chen
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  3. Qiaoyun Ren
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  4. Jin Luo
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  6. Feng Wu
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  7. Wenge Liu
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  9. Jianxun Luo
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  10. Hong Yin
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  11. Guangyuan Liu
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Correspondence to Ze Chen or Guangyuan Liu.

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Liu, X., Chen, Z., Ren, Q. et al. Genetic diversity of Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis (Acari: Ixodidae) in western China. Exp Appl Acarol 74, 427–441 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-018-0242-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-018-0242-2

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