Duplex PCR assay to determine sex and mating status of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), vector of the Lyme disease pathogen.

ABSTRACT: Ticks are a major health threat to humans and other animals, through direct damage, toxicoses, and transmission of pathogens. An estimated half a million people are treated annually in the United States for Lyme disease, a disease caused by the bite of a black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis Say, 1821) infected with the bacterial pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi. This tick species also transmits another 6 human-disease causing pathogens, for which vaccines are currently unavailable. While I. scapularis are sexually dimorphic at the adult life stage, DNA sequence differences between male and female I. scapularis that could be used as a sex-specific marker have not yet been established. Here we identify sex-specific DNA sequences for I. scapularis (male heterogametic system with XY), using whole

SUBMITTER: Ronai I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12271729 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature