Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 10:17 AM
0834

Phylogeography of Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) (Acari: Ixodidae), a widespread American tick species, based on the analysis of mitochondrial gene sequences

Lorenza Beati, lorenzabeati@georgiasouthern.edu1, Darci Barros-Battesti, dbattesti@yahoo.com.br2, Marcelo B. Labruna, labruna@usp.br3, Alberto A. Guglielmone, aguglielmone@rafaela.inta.gov.ar4, Carmen Guzman Cornejo, cguzman@ibiologia.unam.mx5, Abraham Caceres, acaceres31@hotmail.com6, Joao L. H. Faccini7, Renato Leon, renatol@mail.usfq.edu.ec8, and Erica J. Blackford, eblackford@ingwaz.net1. (1) Georgia Southern University, IAP, Georgia Ave, Statesboro, GA, (2) Instituto Butantan, Laboratorio de Parasitologia, Avenida Vital Brasil, 1500, Sao Paulo, Brazil, (3) University of Sao Paulo, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnique, Av Oralndo Marques de Palve 87, Sao Paulo, Brazil, (4) INTA, Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela, CC22, Rafaela, Argentina, (5) UNAM-Instituto de Biologia, Colección Nacional de Ácaros, 3er Circuito Exterior s/n Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, México D.F, Mexico, (6) Universidad Nacional, Instituto de Medicina, Calle Jose Santos Chocano No 199, Lima, Peru, (7) Universitade Federal Rural de Rio de Janeiro, Dept. de Parasitologia Animal, Seropedica, RJ, Brazil, (8) Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Instituto de Microbiologia, Quito, Ecuador

Amblyomma cajennense is one of the New World tick species with the largest geographical distribution. It spreads from the southern part of the United States to Northern Argentina, through Central America and some of the Caribbean. Although ecological, behavioral, and minor morphological differences were sometimes observed in different populations of A. cajennense, the taxonomic status of this tick was never challenged. We now analyzed, by using molecular tools, samples from Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Mexico. Sequences of the 12SrDNA gene, the cytochrome oxidase II gene, and of the control region (D-loop) of these ticks were analyzed phylogenetically. The results showed that our samples are subdivided in strongly supported monophyletic lineages, each corresponding to geographically or ecologically distinct populations. The strong genetic structure revealed by our data indicates that A. cajennense may actually be a species-complex in need of thorough morphological reassessment.


Species 1: Acari Ixodidae Amblyomma cajennense (cayenne tick)

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