Molecular phylogeny of Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806) Brazilian strain and Rhipicephalus turanicus Pomerantsev, 1936 (Acari: Ixodidae) Spanish strain

• Grant number: 11/22059-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2012
• End date: October 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Izabel Souza Camargo
• Grantee: Gustavo Seron Sanches
• Supervisor: Atilio Jose Mangold
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Argentina
• Associated to the scholarship: 10/00415-8 - Biological and morphological (external and reproductive system of males) comparison of Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806) from Brazil and Rhipicephalus turanicus Pomerantsev, 1936 (Acari: Ixodidae) from Spain, BP.DR

Abstract

The genus Rhipicephalus Koch, 1844, comprises about 79 species of ticks recognized, morphologically similar and with taxonomic status for some species still uncertain. Of these, only the dog tick, R. sanguineus "strictu sensu", is recognized in the Neotropical region, but it is known that there may be genetic differences, morphological and biological considerably between different local populations of this region.Seeking to better understand the biosystematic status of this group , Brazilian researchers, in collaboration with the Argentine group INTA - National Institute of Agricultural Technology, found significant differences in morphology and biology of populations of R. sanguineus from Brazil and Argentina (SZABÓ et al., 2005, Oliveira et al., 2005). Moreover, the comparison of mitochondrial 12S rDNA of these two populations showed close phylogenetic relationship between R. sanguineus from Europe (France) with the Argentine strain and Brazilian strain with R. turanicus from South Africa.Continuing this work, the project aims to study, using molecular techniques, the phylogenetic relationships between R. sanguineus from Brazil, R. sanguineus from Argentina and R. turanicus from Spain to the mitochondrial genes 12S rDNA, 16S, 18S and ITS2. The results, analyzed together with data already published, may facilitate the understanding of the Biosystematic status of this genus. (AU)