Abstract
It was recently demonstrated that the lone star tick Amblyomma americanum could harbor filarial nematodes within the genus Acanthocheilonema. In this study, Ixodes scapularis (deer) ticks collected from Southern Connecticut were evaluated for their potential to harbor filarial nematodes. Non-engorged nymphal and adult stage Ixodes scapularis ticks were collected in Southern Connecticut using the standard drag method. In situ hybridization with filarial nematode specific sequences demonstrated the presence of filarial nematodes in Ixodes ticks. Filarial nematode specific DNA sequences were amplified and confirmed by direct sequencing in Ixodes nymphal and adult ticks using either general filarial nematode or Onchocercidae family specific PCR primers. Phylogenetic analysis of the 12S rDNA gene sequence indicated that the filarial nematode infecting Ixodes scapularis ticks is most closely related to the species found in Amblyoma americanum ticks and belongs to the genus of Acanthocheilonema. Our data also demonstrated that infection rate of these filarial nematode in Ixodes ticks is relatively high (about 22% and 30% in nymphal and adult Ixodes ticks, respectively). In summary, the results from our studies demonstrated that filarial nematode infection was found in Ixodes ticks similar to what has been found in Amblyomma americanum ticks.
Highlights
The tick Ixodes scapularis is the host of variety pathogens with medical and veterinary importance such as bacterial pathogens belonging to genera Borrelia, Anaplasma, Bartonella, Rickettsia, Francisella and Coxiella [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
To demonstrate the presence of filarial nematodes in Ixodes scapularis ticks, genomic DNA from 20 nymphal ticks collected from Southern Connecticut was tested for the presence of filarial nematode DNA using a universal filarial nematode-specific Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique
The resulting sequences revealed that the amplified products had the highest similarity with various genera of the Onchocercidae family in Filarial phylum showing greatest similarities to Onchocerca, Dirofilarie, Brugia, Mansonella and Acanthocheilonema genera
Summary
The tick Ixodes scapularis is the host of variety pathogens with medical and veterinary importance such as bacterial pathogens belonging to genera Borrelia, Anaplasma, Bartonella, Rickettsia, Francisella and Coxiella [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. He discovered 30 microfilarial worms (species was not identified) in one adult Ixodes dammini tick [9]. The presence of microfilarial nematodes has been reported in ticks such as the soft tick Ornithodoros, the hard tick Rhipicephalus, and recently in Amblyoma americanum (lone star) ticks [10,11,12]. The species they identified in those studies were closely related to Acanthocheilonema (formerly Dipetalonema) filarial nematodes which are known animal parasites. We further investigated the potential presence of filarial nematodes in the Ixodes scapularis (deer tick) collected from Southern Connecticut. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) combined with direct sequencing methods were used to characterize the potential genus and species as well as the rate of microfilarial infection in nymphal and adult ticks collected from Southern Connecticut
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