Molecular identification of Dermacentor spp. using 12s genetic marker

Abstract

Dermacentor spp. – the most widespread family of ticks. This family has great variability of species which are distributed all over the world. The most common species in Europe are Dermacentor reticulatus and Dermacentor marginatus. Differences between these genes are hard to notice because of morphological resemblance. Molecular identification methods are being used in order to find the difference between closely related species. This method allows to identify new species and find the differences between genus, which are related. Technology is based on gene amplification that multiplies a millionfold copies DNA and compare specific sequences of DNA between organisms. The aim of study is to find out if the 12S genus is suitable for identification of Dermacentor spp. Ticks with which the research was carried out were collected in 2012 – 2017. We applied molecular identification technology using 12S rRNA subunit fragments. Phylogenetic tree, which we constructed, showed that different species forms different clusters. In conclusion 12S genetic marker is suitable for Dermacentor spp. identification.