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The Phylogenetics of Rhipicephalus sanguineus and its Role as a Vector of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Author(s) -
Schaefer Charles,
Allen Jonathan,
Yao Tony,
Owen Haley,
Lisowski Sasha,
VandenBrooks John
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.lb296
Subject(s) - rickettsia rickettsii , rocky mountain spotted fever , tick , biology , rhipicephalus sanguineus , spotted fever , rickettsiosis , phylogenetic tree , zoology , clade , vector (molecular biology) , outbreak , rhipicephalus , rickettsia , ecology , ixodidae , virology , genetics , gene , virus , recombinant dna
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is a tick‐borne disease caused by the intracellular bacteria Rickettsia rickettsii . The traditionally accepted vectors for this disease include ticks from the genus Dermacentor , however this genus is not endemic to the site of a recent outbreak in Arizona. Rhipicephalus sanguineus , also known as the Brown Dog Tick, is an ectoparasite that can be found throughout the United States. It has been hypothesized that this species exists as several distinct groups that form what can be more accurately described as a species complex. The Brown Dog Tick has been linked to this recent outbreak of RMSF in Arizona, despite no previous evidence of this species acting as a vector elsewhere in the US. Given the widespread habitat of the Brown Dog Tick, its potential as a vector for RMSF is a pressing public health risk. In this study, we sought to determine if differences associated with the genetic diversity of the Brown Dog Tick are responsible for its role as a vector. Ticks identified as R. sanguineous (n=241) were sorted into lineages based on phylogenetic analysis of a concatenated sequence of the 16S, 12S and COX1 genes. We used “Tropical” and “Temperate” marker sequences from identified samples on genbank (Table 1). Our results demonstrate the presence of multiple clades geographically distributed Arizona beyond just the “Tropical” and “Temperate” delineation. These tick samples were also tested for infection with R. rickettsii using PCR for the R. rickettsii OMPA gene. However, there was no significant difference between the phylogenetic tick clades (Chi‐squared, p=0.21). This suggests the genetic lineage of the vector tick is not the primary factor responsible for the outbreak of RMSF in Arizona and the surrounding regions. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .