title: New Spiroplasma in parasitic Leptus mites and their Agathemera walking stick hosts from Argentina.
abstract: Here we report the presence of Spiroplasma 16S rRNA in populations of two parasitic Leptus mites (Leptus sayi; Leptus lomani) and their Agathemera walking stick hosts. In walking sticks Spiroplasmas were detected in the gut, as well as muscle-tissues, but not in eggs. Throughout Argentina 15.4% of L. sayi populations and 14.3% of L. lomani populations surveyed screened positive for Spiroplasma. Phylogenetic analyses (ML, BCMC) place all sequences within the Ixodetis group. Most sequences form a well-supported sister subclade to the rest of Ixodetis. We briefly discuss the role of Leptus mites in the natural transmission of Spiroplasma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260, United States. diblasi.emily@gmail.com
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: DiBlasi
authors.forename: Solon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morse
authors.forename: Jason R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mayberry
authors.forename: Luciano J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Avila
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morando
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dittmar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D007313:Insecta / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D008925:Mites / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013149:Spiroplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*