Ixodes Ventalloi: Morphological and Molecular Support for Species Integrity

Overview

Journal Parasitol Res

Specialty Parasitology

Date 2016 Oct 21

PMID 27761719

Citations 5

Authors

Maria Stefania Latrofa

Alessio Giannelli

Maria Flaminia Persichetti

Maria Grazia Pennisi

Laia Solano-Gallego

Emanuele Brianti

Antonio Parisi

Richard Wall

Filipe Dantas-Torres

Domenico Otranto

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Despite their medical and veterinary importance, some tick species are so poorly studied, that their role within pathogen vector transmission cycles is difficult to assess. The tick Ixodes ventalloi is one such species, and its biology and phylogenetic status remain an issue of debate. In the present study, specimens of adult I. ventalloi (n = 65 females; n = 31 males) infesting cats in the Lipari Island (Aeolian archipelago, Sicily, southern Italy) were characterized morphologically and molecularly, the latter based on mitochondrial 16S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) genes. The genetic data and phylogenetic analyses for both mitochondrial genes suggest the existence of two distinct genogroups. The ecological and epidemiological significance of the genetic structure within the I. ventalloi endemic population remains to be determined. The results highlight the need for further analysis of this tick species, including whole mitochondrial genome sequencing and crossbreeding studies, which will be pivotal to complement features of its status as a vector of pathogens.

Citing Articles

First detection and a new avian host of the tick Ixodes ventalloi Gil Collado, 1936, in Slovakia.

Penazziova K, Chitimia-Dobler L, Csank T, Petko B, Ondrejkova A, Halan M Parasitol Res. 2024; 123(7):268.

PMID: 38992328 PMC: 11239605. DOI: 10.1007/s00436-024-08286-y.

Island hitchhikers: pathogen agents of Madeira and Azores ticks.

Rosa F, Silva C, Rodrigues R, Esteves-Vieira M, Barbosa I, Rosa S Parasitol Res. 2024; 123(7):261.

PMID: 38967653 PMC: 11226517. DOI: 10.1007/s00436-024-08278-y.

Genetic analysis challenges the presence of Ixodes inopinatus in Central Europe: development of a multiplex PCR to distinguish I. inopinatus from I. ricinus.

Hrazdilova K, Danek O, Hrbatova A, cervena B, Noskova E, Adamik P Parasit Vectors. 2023; 16(1):354.

PMID: 37814284 PMC: 10561450. DOI: 10.1186/s13071-023-05971-2.

Tick species from Africa by migratory birds: a 3-year study in Italy.

Toma L, Mancuso E, dAlessio S, Menegon M, Spina F, Pascucci I Exp Appl Acarol. 2020; 83(1):147-164.

PMID: 33206312 DOI: 10.1007/s10493-020-00573-4.

A Geographical Information System Based Approach for Integrated Strategies of Tick Surveillance and Control in the Peri-Urban Natural Reserve of Monte Pellegrino (Palermo, Southern Italy).

Torina A, Blanda V, Blanda M, Auteri M, La Russa F, Scimeca S Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018; 15(3).

PMID: 29495440 PMC: 5876949. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15030404.

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