Population and Evolutionary Genomics of Amblyomma americanum, an Expanding Arthropod Disease Vector.

ABSTRACT: The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is an important disease vector and the most frequent tick found attached to humans in the eastern United States. The lone star tick has recently experienced a rapid range expansion into the Northeast and Midwest, but despite this emerging infectious threat to wildlife, livestock, and human health, little is known about the genetic causes and consequences of the geographic expansion. In the first population genomic analysis of any tick species, we characterize the genetic diversity and population structure of A. americanum across its current geographic range, which has recently expanded. Using a high-throughput genotyping-by-sequencing approach, we discovered more than 8,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms in 90 ticks from five locations. Surprising

SUBMITTER: Monzon JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4898797 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature