Molecular Phylogenetic Relationships of North American Dermacentor Ticks Using Mitochondrial Gene Sequences

<p><em>Dermacentor</em> is a recently evolved genus of hard ticks (Family Ixodiae) that includes 36 known species worldwide. Despite the importance of <em>Dermacentor</em> species as vectors of human and animal disease, the systematics of the genus remain largely unresolved. This study focuses on phylogenetic relationships of the eight North American Nearctic <em>Dermacentor </em>species: <em>D. albipictus, D. variabilis, D. occidentalis, D. halli, D. parumapertus, D. hunteri, </em>and <em>D. andersoni</em>, and the recently re-established species <em>D. kamshadalus</em>, as well as two of the Neotropical <em>Dermacentor</em> species <em>D. nitens</em> and <em>D. dissimilis</em> (both formerly <em>Anocentor</em>). We sequenced portions of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, and the ribosomal 12S and 16S genes from the largest sampling of North American <em>Dermacentor</em> ticks analyzed to date. In all analyses, we found that North American <em>Dermacentor</em> ticks form a monophyletic lineage, and that all four species of one-host <em>Dermacentor</em> ticks also form a monophyletic lineage within the genus. The placement of the former <em>Anocentor</em> species, <em>D. nitens</em> and <em>D. dissimilis</em> in Dermacentor is also well supported. The winter tick, <em>Dermacentor albipictus</em>, has a complex structure in all analyses that warrants further study into the possibility of a species complex. <em>Dermacentor kamshadalus</em>, formerly a synonym of <em>D. albipictus</em>, shows the same complex structure under analysis of these three mitochondrial genes, and should also be further molecularly examined.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Biology (M.S.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Biology

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Perry, Kayla L

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dmitry Apanaskevich
• Lance Durden

• ETD
• ticks
• Dermacentor
• one-host
• phylogenetics
• COI
• 12S
• 16S
• mitochondrial
• Biodiversity
• Bioinformatics
• Biology
• Molecular Biology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1089

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-2125