{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Collini M"],"funding":["Seventh Framework Programme (BE)","Seventh Framework Programme","Fondazione Edmund Mach","Università degli Studi di Milano"],"pagination":["638"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC5154095"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["9(1)"],"pubmed_abstract":["<h4>Background</h4>In Europe, Ixodes ricinus L. is the main vector of a variety of zoonotic pathogens, acquired through blood meals taken once per stage from a vertebrate host. Defining the main tick hosts in a given area is important for planning public health interventions; however, until recently, no robust molecular methods existed for blood meal identification from questing ticks. Here we improved the time- and cost-effectiveness of an HRMA protocol for blood meal analysis and used it to identify blood meal sources of sheep tick larvae from Italian alpine forests.<h4>Methods</h4>Nine hundred questing nymphs were collected using blanket-dragging in 18 extensive forests and 12 forest patches close to rural villages in the Province of Trento. Total DNA was either extracted manually, with"],"journal":["Parasites & vectors"],"pubmed_title":["Identification of Ixodes ricinus blood meals using an automated protocol with high resolution melting analysis (HRMA) reveals the importance of domestic dogs as larval tick hosts in Italian alpine forests."],"pmcid":["PMC5154095"],"funding_grant_id":["261504"],"pubmed_authors":["Conterno L","Mortarino M","Rosa R","Albonico F","Collini M","Tagliapietra V","Hauffe HC","Rizzoli A","Rossi C","Arnoldi D"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Identification of Ixodes ricinus blood meals using an automated protocol with high resolution melting analysis (HRMA) reveals the importance of domestic dogs as larval tick hosts in Italian alpine forests.","description":"<h4>Background</h4>In Europe, Ixodes ricinus L. is the main vector of a variety of zoonotic pathogens, acquired through blood meals taken once per stage from a vertebrate host. Defining the main tick hosts in a given area is important for planning public health interventions; however, until recently, no robust molecular methods existed for blood meal identification from questing ticks. Here we improved the time- and cost-effectiveness of an HRMA protocol for blood meal analysis and used it to identify blood meal sources of sheep tick larvae from Italian alpine forests.<h4>Methods</h4>Nine hundred questing nymphs were collected using blanket-dragging in 18 extensive forests and 12 forest patches close to rural villages in the Province of Trento. Total DNA was either extracted manually, with","dates":{"release":"2016-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2016 Dec","modification":"2026-07-15T21:29:38.198Z","creation":"2026-07-09T10:14:49.02Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC5154095","cross_references":{"pubmed":["27955678"],"doi":["10.1186/s13071-016-1901-y"]}}