Abstract
Hepatozoon and Hemolivia are members of the haemogregarines and are reported in reptiles and reptile-associated ticks. However, no studies have reported on Hepatozoon and Hemolivia in Japanese reptile-associated ticks. This study aimed to molecularly identify and to characterize Hepatozoon and Hemolivia in Japanese reptile-associated ticks, Amblyomma geoemydae (Cantor, 1847) and Amblyomma nitidum (Hirst & Hirst, 1910). A total of 41 and 75 DNA samples from A. geoemydae and A. nitidum ticks, respectively, were used for screening of Hepatozoon and Hemolivia with polymerase chain reaction targeting 18S rDNA. As a result, Hemolivia and Hepatozoon were detected in two A. geoemydae and one A. nitidum, respectively. The sequences of Hemolivia spp. showed a 99.5% (1,050/1,055 bp) identity with Hemolivia parvula (KR069083), and the Hemolivia spp. were located in the same clade as H. parvula in the phylogenetic tree. The sequences of Hepatozoon sp. showed a 98.4% (1,521/1,545 bp) identity with Hepatozoon colubri (MN723844), and the Hepatozoon sp. was distinct from validated Hepatozoon species in the tree. Our findings highlight the first molecular record of Hemolivia in Japan and present the first detection of Hepatozoon in A. nitidum. Further investigations on these tick-borne protozoa are required to understand their life cycle and pathogenicity.
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Data availability
The accession numbers of the sequences determined in this study are LC603339, LC603340, and LC603342.
Code availability
Not applicable.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Editage (https://www.editage.jp/) and Dr. Alice CC Lau (Hokkaido University) for English language editing.
Funding
This research was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (JP19K15992) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT)/Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
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Conceptualization, Y.Q.; methodology, Y.Q.; formal analysis, Y.Q. and M.J.T.; investigation, Y.Q.; resources, N.K., M.H., K.F., and H.T.; writing (original draft preparation), Y.Q.; writing (review and editing), N.K., M.J.T., M.H., K.F., and H.T.; supervision, Y.Q.; and funding acquisition, Y.Q. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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No approval of research ethics committees was required to accomplish the goals of this study, as the experimental work was conducted with unregulated invertebrate species.
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Qiu, Y., Kidera, N., Thu, M.J. et al. First molecular detection of Hemolivia and Hepatozoon parasites in reptile-associated ticks on Iriomote Island, Japan. Parasitol Res 120, 4067–4072 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07345-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07345-y