title: Genetic diversity of Theileria orientalis in tick vectors detected in Hokkaido and Okinawa, Japan.
abstract: In the present study, we investigated the possible tick vectors that can transmit Theileria orientalis in eastern Hokkaido, Japan. Questing ticks collected from three different districts, Taiki, Otofuke, and Shin-Hidaka, of Hokkaido included Ixodes persulcatus, Haemaphysalis megaspinosa, Haemaphysalis douglasi, and Ixodes ovatus, while all the ticks collected from Yonaguni island of Okinawa were identified as Haemaphysalis longicornis. When the ticks were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for T. orientalis, the parasite was commonly detected among all tick species. Genotype-specific PCR assays revealed that all tick species in Hokkaido were predominantly detected with type 2, while ticks collected from Okinawa (H. longicornis) were predominantly detected with type 1. Consistent with the genetic diversity of T. orientalis in ticks, genotyping PCR assays from cattle grazed in the same Hokkaido sampling locations identified type 2 as the most prevalent genotype. This study provides the first identification of I. persulcatus, H. megaspinosa, H. douglasi, and I. ovatus as possible tick vectors of T. orientalis, and finds that the variety of vectors apparently capable of transmitting T. orientalis is wider in Japan than expected. The authors suggest that tick control strategies should be modified in Hokkaido based on the seasonal activities of ticks identified in the present study.
authors: National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan. yokoyama@obihiro.ac.jp
authors: Naoaki
authors: N
authors: Yokoyama
authors: Thillaiampalam
authors: T
authors: Sivakumar
authors: Naomi
authors: N
authors: Ota
authors: Ikuo
authors: I
authors: Igarashi
authors: Yukio
authors: Y
authors: Nakamura
authors: Hidenari
authors: H
authors: Yamashina
authors: Shirou
authors: S
authors: Matsui
authors: Natsuko
authors: N
authors: Fukumoto
authors: Hiroshi
authors: H
authors: Hata
authors: Seiji
authors: S
authors: Kondo
authors: Mamoru
authors: M
authors: Oshiro
authors: Satoshi
authors: S
authors: Zakimi
authors: Yasuhiro
authors: Y
authors: Kuroda
authors: Naoya
authors: N
authors: Kojima
authors: Kotaro
authors: K
authors: Matsumoto
authors: Hisashi
authors: H
authors: Inokuma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000469:parasitology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016794:Theileria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D013801:Theileriasis / Q000469:parasitology; D013987:Ticks / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C115173:major piroplasm surface protein, Theileria