Abstract
A multigene phylogeny including 24 Rhipicephalus species from the Afrotropical and Mediterranean regions, based on mitochondrial DNA genes (COI, 12S and 16S), was constructed based on Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood estimations. The phylogenetic reconstruction revealed 31 Rhipicephalus clades, which include the first molecular records of Rhipicephalus duttoni (Neumann), and Rhipicephalus senegalensis (Koch). Our results support the R. pulchellus, R. evertsi and R. pravus complexes as more phylogenetically close to Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) than to the remaining Rhipicephalus clades, suggesting two main monophyletic groups within the genus. Additionally, the phenotypic resembling R. sanguineus s.l. and Rhipicephalus turanicus (Pomerantsev) are here represented by nine clades, of which none of the R. turanicus assemblages appeared as distributed in the Iberian Peninsula. These results not only indicate that both species include more cryptic diversity than the already reported, but also suggest that R. turanicus distribution is less extended than previously anticipated. This analysis allowed to improve species identification by exposing cryptic species and reinforced mtDNA markers suitability for intra/inter-species clarification analyses. Incorporating new species molecular records to improve phylogenetic clarification can significantly improve ticks’ identification methods which will have epidemiologic implications on public health.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the colleagues Sara Ema Silva and Ana Sofia Rodrigues (Computational Biology and Population Genomics Group (CoBiG2), Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal) for revising the final draft and to the CoBiG2 group for the help provided relating software handling. We are also thankful to volunteer students for fieldwork assistance and to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that helped us to improve our work.
Funding
This study was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) of the Portuguese Government (Grant No. PD/BD/109408/2015) to MJCD, and CESAM RU from FCT/MEC financial support (UID/AMB/50017) to DD through national funds. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (2001), Luso-American Development Foundation (2007), and Fundação Portugal-África (2008) provided field sampling funds to FR.
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Coimbra-Dores, M.J., Maia-Silva, M., Marques, W. et al. Phylogenetic insights on Mediterranean and Afrotropical Rhipicephalus species (Acari: Ixodida) based on mitochondrial DNA. Exp Appl Acarol 75, 107–128 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-018-0254-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-018-0254-y