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de Oliveira GMB, Muñoz-Leal S, Nava S, Horta MC, Bernardi L, Venzal JM, Labruna MB. New records of soft ticks (Acari: Argasidae) from caves in Brazil, with a morphological study of Ornithodoros fonsecai and an analysis of the taxonomic status of Antricola inexpectata. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2024; 15:102331. [PMID: 38461653 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2024.102331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
In this study, we report soft ticks from bat-inhabiting caves in different areas of Brazil. From 2010 to 2019, we collected 807 tick specimens from nine caves located in four Brazilian states among two biomes. Ticks were morphologically identified as Antricola guglielmonei (282 specimens), Ornithodoros cavernicolous (260 specimens), and Ornithodoros fonsecai (265 specimens). Whereas A. guglielmonei was collected on bat guano in hot caves, O. cavernicolous and O. fonsecai were collected in cracks and crevices on the walls of cold caves, sometimes in the same chamber. Morphological identifications were corroborated by molecular and phylogenetic analyses inferred from tick mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene partial sequences. The sequences of A. guglielmonei, O. cavernicolous and O. fonsecai collected in this study clustered with conspecific GenBank sequences from different localities of Brazil. Remarkably, a clade containing 12 sequences of O. fonsecai was clearly bifurcated, denoting a degree of genetic divergence (up to 5 %) of specimens from Cerrado/Atlantic Forest biomes with the specimens from the Caatinga biome. To further evaluate this divergence, we performed morphometric analysis of the larval stage of different O. fonsencai populations by principal component analysis, which indicated that the larvae from Caatinga populations were generally smaller than the larvae from other biomes. Some of the present A. guglielmonei specimens were collected from the type locality of Antricola inexpectata. Comparisons of these specimens with the type specimens of A. inexpectata and A. guglielmonei indicated that they could not be separated by their external morphology. Hence, we are relegating A. inexpectata to a synonym of A. guglielmonei. This proposal is corroborated by our phylogenetic analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Glauber M B de Oliveira
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Sebastián Muñoz-Leal
- Departamento de Ciencia Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción, Chillán, Ñuble, Chile
| | - Santiago Nava
- Instituto de Investigación de la Cadena Láctea (IDICAL, INTA-CONICET), Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela (INTA E.E.A. Rafaela), Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Maurício C Horta
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco, Petrolina, PE, Brazil
| | - Leopoldo Bernardi
- Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG, Brazil
| | - José Manuel Venzal
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, CENUR Litoral Norte - Salto, Universidad de la República, Salto, Uruguay
| | - Marcelo B Labruna
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
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Polli MG, Martins MM, Rodrigues VDS, Rezende LM, Suzin A, Maia RDC, Souza ACP, Muñoz-Leal S, Szabó MPJ, Yokosawa J. Molecular detection of Borrelia sp. in Ornithodoros cavernicolous (Acari: Argasidae) in midwestern Brazil. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2024; 15:102303. [PMID: 38113807 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2023.102303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Ticks are obligate hematophagous parasites that can transmit to vertebrate hosts several pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, protozoa and helminths. Among these agents, some Borrelia species some Borrelia species cause disease in humans and other vertebrate hosts; therefore, they have medical and veterinary health importance. To gather additional information on Borrelia species in Brazil, the current study aimed to detect the presence of these species in Ornithodoros cavernicolous ticks collected in September 2019 from cement pipes that are used by bats as shelter in a farm located in the midwestern region of Brazil. DNA samples obtained from 18 specimens of O. cavernicolous were subjected of two polymerase chain reactions, targeting a segment of the Borrelia fla B gene. Of the samples tested, only one (6 %, 1/18) showed amplification. The nucleotide sequence of the amplified DNA showed more than 97 % (293/300) identity with a sequence of a Borrelia sp. detected in blood collected from a bat from Macaregua Cave, Colombia, and more than 97 % (292/300) detected in lungs from vampire bats from northeastern Brazil. The deduced amino acid sequences were identical to each other. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that these sequences formed a group of Borrelia species (putatively associated with bats) that is closely related to sequences of Borrelia species of the Lyme borreliosis group. Further investigations should be carried out in order to determine whether the sequence of the Borrelia sp. we found belongs to a new taxon. It will also be of great importance to determine which vertebrate hosts, besides bats, O. cavernicolous ticks can parasitize in order to investigate whether the Borrelia sp. we found may be transmitted and cause disease to the other vertebrate hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayara Garcia Polli
- Laboratory of Microorganisms of Cerrado (Brazilian Savannah), Department of Microbiology, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICBIM), Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), Uberlândia, Brazil; Post-Graduation Program in Applied Immunology and Parasitology, UFU, ICBIM, Brazil
| | - Maria Marlene Martins
- Laboratory of Ixodology (LabIx), Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FAMEV), UFU, Brazil
| | - Vinicius da Silva Rodrigues
- Post-Graduation Program in Applied Immunology and Parasitology, UFU, ICBIM, Brazil; Laboratory of Ixodology (LabIx), Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FAMEV), UFU, Brazil
| | - Lais Miguel Rezende
- Laboratory of Ixodology (LabIx), Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FAMEV), UFU, Brazil; Post-Graduation Program in Veterinary Sciences, UFU, FAMEV, Brazil
| | - Adriane Suzin
- Laboratory of Ixodology (LabIx), Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FAMEV), UFU, Brazil; Post-Graduation Program in Ecology and Conservation of Natural Resources, Instituto de Biologia, UFU, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo da Costa Maia
- Post-Graduation Program in Applied Immunology and Parasitology, UFU, ICBIM, Brazil; Laboratory of Ixodology (LabIx), Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FAMEV), UFU, Brazil
| | - Ana Carolina Prado Souza
- Post-Graduation Program in Applied Immunology and Parasitology, UFU, ICBIM, Brazil; Laboratory of Ixodology (LabIx), Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FAMEV), UFU, Brazil
| | - Sebastián Muñoz-Leal
- Departamento de Ciencia Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción, Chillán, Ñuble, Chile
| | | | - Jonny Yokosawa
- Laboratory of Microorganisms of Cerrado (Brazilian Savannah), Department of Microbiology, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICBIM), Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), Uberlândia, Brazil.
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