title: Morphological and molecular identification of the brown dog tickRhipicephalus sanguineusand the camel tickHyalomma dromedarii(Acari: Ixodidae) vectors of Rickettsioses in Egypt.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Rickettsioses have an epidemiological importance that includes pathogens, vectors, and hosts. The dog tickRhipicephalus sanguineusand the camel tickHyalomma dromedariiplay important roles as vectors and reservoirs of Rickettsiae. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Rickettsiae in ixodid ticks species infesting dogs and camels in Egypt, in addition to, the morphological and molecular identification ofR. sanguineusandH. dromedarii.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 601 and 104 of ticks' specimens were collected from dogs and camels, respectively, in Cairo, Giza and Sinai provinces. Hemolymph staining technique andOmpAandgltAgenes amplification were performed to estimate the prevalence rate of Rickettsiae in ticks. For morphological identification of tick species, light microscope (LM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used. In addition to the phylogenetic analyses of 18S rDNA, Second internal transcript spacer, 12S rDNA, cytochrome c oxidase subunit-1, and 16S rDNA were performed for molecular identification of two tick species.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence rate of Rickettsiae in ticks was 11.6% using hemolymph staining technique and 6.17% byOmpAandgltAgenes amplification. Morphological identification revealed that 100% of dogs were infested byR. sanguineuswhile 91.9% of camels had been infested byH. dromedarii. The phylogenetic analyses of five DNA markers confirmed morphological identification by LM and SEM. The two tick species sequences analyses proved 96-100% sequences identities when compared with the reference data in Genbank records.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present studies confirm the suitability of mitochondrial DNA markers for reliable identification of ticks at both intra- and inter-species level over the nuclear ones. In addition to, the detection of Rickettsiae in both ticks' species and establishment of the phylogenetic status ofR. sanguineusandH. dromedariiwould be useful in understanding the epidemiology of ticks and tick borne rickettsioses in Egypt.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Animal Diseases, Division of Veterinary Research, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hend H A M
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Abdullah
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Amal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El-Molla
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Fayez A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Salib
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Animal Diseases, Division of Veterinary Research, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Nesreen A T
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Allam
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Animal Diseases, Division of Veterinary Research, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Alaa A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ghazy
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Animal Diseases, Division of Veterinary Research, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Sobhy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abdel-Shafy
keywords: Rickettsiae; hard ticks; light microscope; phylogenetic analysis; polymerase chain reaction; scanning electron microscope