Presence, genetic variability, and potential significance of "Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii" in the lone star tick Amblyomma americanum.

ABSTRACT: We used next generation sequencing to detect the bacterium "Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii" for the first time in lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) from the eastern United States. 177 individuals and 11 tick pools from seven sites in four states were tested by pyrosequencing with barcoded 16S rRNA gene eubacterial primers targeting variable regions 5-3. Average infection prevalence was 0.15 across all surveyed populations (range 0-0.29) and only the site with the smallest sample size (n = 5) was negative. Three genotypes differing by 2.6-4.1 % in a 271 bp region of 16S rRNA gene were identified. Two variants co-occurred in sites in North Carolina and New York, but were not observed in the same tick at those sites. The third genotype was found only in Georgia. Phylogenetic analysi

SUBMITTER: Williams-Newkirk AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5730336 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature