Construction of a DNA database for ticks collected in Japan: application of molecular identification based on the mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene

• Published in: Medical Entomology and Zoology Vol. 65; no. 1; pp. 13 - 21
• Main Authors: TAKANO, Ai, HONDA, Toshirou, KADOSAKA, Teruki, ANDO, Shuji, GOKUDEN, Mutsuyo, ANDOH, Masako, TSURUMI, Miyako, KAWABATA, Hiroki, ISHIGURO, Fubito, TAKADA, Nobuhiro, SATO, Kozue, FUJITA, Hiromi, YANO, Yasuhiro, OIKAWA, Yosaburo, TAKAHASHI, Mamoru, YAMAUCHI, Takeo, TSUNODA, Takashi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Japan Society of Medical Entomology and Zoology 25.03.2014
• Subjects: molecular identification; mt-rrs; tick
• ISSN: 0424-7086; 2185-5609
• DOI: 10.7601/mez.65.13

Tick identification is important in control of tick-born diseases because tick-borne pathogens are often transmitted by specific tick species. In this study, we determined partial DNA sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene (mt-rrs) for ticks including 7 genera and 39 species, and these ticks were allocated to 113 sequence types. Of the 39 species of ticks, 36 species (92.3%) were distinguishable by phylogenetic analysis of mt-rrs. This result suggests that species identification of ticks based on mt-rrs is a viable alternative to morphological identification. In order to establish a DNA database for identification of ixodid and argasid ticks in Japan, we deposited all sequence data in GenBank (from AB819156 to AB819268).