Detection and molecular characterization of Babesia, Theileria, and Hepatozoon species in hard ticks collected from Kagoshima, the southern region in Japan

Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases
Tatsunori MasataniTomohide Matsuo

Abstract

To reveal the distribution of tick-borne parasites, we established a novel nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system to detect the most common agents of tick-borne parasitic diseases, namely Babesia, Theileria, and Hepatozoon parasites. We collected host-seeking or animal-feeding ticks in Kagoshima Prefecture, the southernmost region of Kyusyu Island in southwestern Japan. Twenty of the total of 776 tick samples displayed a specific band of the appropriate size (approximately 1.4-1.6kbp) for the 18S rRNA genes in the novel nested PCR (20/776: 2.58%). These PCR products have individual sequences of Babesia spp. (from 8 ticks), Theileria spp. (from 9 ticks: one tick sample including at least two Theileria spp. sequences), and Hepatozoon spp. (from 3 ticks). Phylogenetic analyses revealed that these sequences were close to those of undescribed Babesia spp. detected in feral raccoons in Japan (5 sequences; 3 sequences being identical), Babesia gibsoni-like parasites detected in pigs in China (3 sequences; all sequences being identical), Theileria spp. detected in sika deer in Japan and China (10 sequences; 2 sequences being identical), Hepatozoon canis (one sequence), and Hepatozoon spp. detected in Japanese martens in Japan (t...Continue Reading

Citations

Sep 25, 2018·Transboundary and Emerging Diseases·Hongfei ShiLunguang Yao
Sep 7, 2018·Parasitology Research·Saw BawmKen Katakura
Mar 8, 2021·Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases·Momoko MorikawaTatsunori Masatani
Apr 7, 2018·Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases·Yongjin QiuRyo Nakao

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