Ullah Zafar, Liaqat Iram, Khan Mehran, Alouffi Abdulaziz, Almutairi Mashal M, Apanaskevich Dmitry A, Tanaka Tetsuya, Ali Abid
Microbiology Lab, Department of Zoology, Government College University, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Front Vet Sci. 2024 Dec 23;11:1500930. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1500930. eCollection 2024.
There is limited information on the occurrence of and ticks, as well as associated and species in Pakistan. Addressing this knowledge gap, the current study aimed at morphomolecular confirmation of these ticks and molecular assessment of associated Rickettsiales bacteria (, and spp.) in Balochistan, Pakistan. A total of 314 ticks were collected from 74 of 117 (63.2%) hosts, including 41 of 74 (55.4%) goats and 33 of 74 (44.5%) sheep. Subsequently, a subset of microscopically identified ticks was subjected to DNA extraction and PCR to amplify 16S rDNA and fragments. Additionally, , and fragments were targeted for spp. and 16S rDNA fragments for both and spp. The 16S rDNA and sequences of demonstrated 100% identity with those of the same species previously reported from Pakistan. The 16S rDNA and sequences of exhibited 99.52 and 100% identities, respectively, with corresponding species reported from China, Kazakhstan, and Turkey. The and fragments associated with . showed 100% identities with reported from Egypt, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Pakistan, and Senegal. The 16S rDNA sequences of sp. and sp. associated with both . and . exhibited 99.67 and 100% identities with unknown sp. and sp. reported from Morocco and Pakistan, respectively. In the 16S rDNA and phylogenetic trees of ticks, . and . from the current study clustered with their respective species. Similarly, in and phylogenetic trees of , of the present study clustered with the same species, whereas sp. and sp. of this study clustered with undetermined spp. and spp. in the 16S rDNA phylogenetic tree of Anaplasmataceae. Among the DNA samples from the screened ticks, a coinfection rate of , sp., and sp. (2 of 80, 2.5%) was observed in , whereas individual infection rates were noted as follows: (8 of 80, 10%), sp. (5 of 80, 6.3%), and sp. (5 of 80, 6.3%). This study marks the first record of molecular characterization of . and . as well as the detection of associated , sp., and sp. in Balochistan, Pakistan.
关于巴基斯坦蜱虫的出现情况以及相关的立克次氏体和巴贝斯虫种类的信息有限。为填补这一知识空白,本研究旨在对这些蜱虫进行形态分子鉴定,并对巴基斯坦俾路支省相关的立克次氏体细菌(如立克次氏体属、埃立克体属和巴贝斯虫属物种)进行分子评估。共从117个宿主中的74个(63.2%)采集到314只蜱虫,其中包括74只山羊中的41只(55.4%)和74只绵羊中的33只(44.5%)。随后,对显微镜鉴定的蜱虫子集进行DNA提取和PCR,以扩增16S rDNA和特定片段。此外,针对巴贝斯虫属物种的特定片段和埃立克体属物种的16S rDNA片段进行扩增。所采集的微小牛蜱的16S rDNA和特定序列与先前在巴基斯坦报道的同一物种的序列显示100%的同一性。所采集的嗜吞噬细胞无形体的16S rDNA和特定序列分别与来自中国、哈萨克斯坦和土耳其报道的相应物种显示99.52%和100%的同一性。与巴贝斯虫属相关的特定片段和16S rDNA片段与来自埃及、意大利、哈萨克斯坦、肯尼亚、巴基斯坦和塞内加尔报道的巴贝斯虫显示100%的同一性。与巴贝斯虫属和嗜吞噬细胞无形体相关的巴贝斯虫未定种和埃立克体未定种的16S rDNA序列分别与来自摩洛哥和巴基斯坦报道的未知巴贝斯虫未定种和未知埃立克体未定种显示99.67%和100%的同一性。在蜱虫的16S rDNA和特定系统发育树中,本研究中的微小牛蜱和嗜吞噬细胞无形体与它们各自的物种聚类。同样,在巴贝斯虫属和埃立克体属的系统发育树中,本研究中的巴贝斯虫属与同一物种聚类,而本研究中的巴贝斯虫未定种和埃立克体未定种在无形体科的16S rDNA系统发育树中与未确定的巴贝斯虫属物种和埃立克体属物种聚类。在筛选的蜱虫的DNA样本中,在巴贝斯虫属中观察到巴贝斯虫属、埃立克体未定种和巴贝斯虫未定种的混合感染率为2.5%(80个样本中有2个),而个体感染率如下:巴贝斯虫属为10%(80个样本中有8个),埃立克体未定种为6.3%(80个样本中有5个),巴贝斯虫未定种为6.3%(80个样本中有5个)。本研究标志着在巴基斯坦俾路支省首次记录了微小牛蜱和嗜吞噬细胞无形体的分子特征以及相关的巴贝斯虫属、埃立克体未定种和巴贝斯虫未定种的检测。