IDENTIFICATION OF TWO GENOTYPES OF ARGAS PERSICUS AND ASSOCIATED RICKETTSIA-SPECIFIC GENES FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS OF INNER MONGOLIA

Ticks are important vectors and reservoirs of several zoonotic pathogens. Recently, both known and unknown tick-borne pathogens have emerged and re-emerged, causing unpredictable epidemics. In this study, 211 soft tick samples were collected from Tongliao and Alxa in Inner Mongolia, China. Tick species were identified by morphological and molecular biological analyses. Morphological analysis showed that there was no significant difference in surface features between ticks from the 2 areas. Cloning by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene showed that all ticks belonged to the species Argas persicus. Analysis using Genetyx software indicated that there was a limited degree of diversity between ticks from the 2 areas. Three base changes were detected in the 16S rRNA gene. We constructed phylogenetic trees using MEGA 6.0 software and showed that the ticks from the 2 areas might have evolved independently from species in other geographical areas. To assess the presence of Rickettsia, Streptococcus suis, and Staphylococcus aureus pathogens in tick samples, over 100 16S rRNA sequences belonging to these 3 pathogens were obtained from GenBank. We used CLC Sequence Viewer 7.0 to determine conserved sequences for the design of degenerate primers. Using standard PCR, we detected Rickettsia-specific genes, including 16S rRNA, 17KD, and ompB, in gDNA samples of ticks from Alxa. This study has laid a foundation for future studies on the biodiversity of ticks and for a new pathogen information database of ticks in local areas.