title: Phylogenetic analysis of Myobia musculi (Schranck, 1781) by using the 18S small ribosomal subunit sequence.
abstract: We used high-fidelity PCR to amplify 2 overlapping regions of the ribosomal gene complex from the rodent fur mite Myobia musculi. The amplicons encompassed a large portion of the mite's ribosomal gene complex spanning 3128 nucleotides containing the entire 18S rRNA, internal  transcribed spacer (ITS) 1,5.8S rRNA, ITS2, and a portion of the 5'-end of the 28S rRNA. M. musculi's 179-nucleotide 5.8S rRNA nucleotide sequence was not conserved, so this region was identified by conservation of rRNA secondary structure. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference  phylogenetic analyses were performed by using multiple sequence alignment consisting of 1524 nucleotides of M. musculi 18S rRNA and homologous sequences from 42 prostigmatid mites and the tick Dermacentor andersoni. The phylograms produced by both methods were in agreement regarding  terminal, secondary, and some tertiary phylogenetic relationships among mites. Bayesian inference discriminated most infraordinal relationships between Eleutherengona and Parasitengona mites in the suborder Anystina. Basal relationships between suborders Anystina and Eupodina historically  determined by comparing differences in anatomic characteristics were less well-supported by our molecular analysis. Our results recapitulated similar 18S rRNA sequence analyses recently reported. Our study supports M. musculi as belonging to the suborder Anystina, infraorder Eleutherenona,  and superfamily Cheyletoidea.
authors.affiliation: Center for Comparative Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. shf2b@virginia.edu
authors.forename: Sanford H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.forename: Abraham M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ntenda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020029:Base Pairing; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008925:Mites / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S