Ticks are important ectoparasites that serve as key vectors of various pathogens, posing significant risks to both human and animal health. In this study, 3 genera and 5 species of ticks, including Haemaphysalis longicornis, H. flava, H. doenitzi, Ixodes nipponensis, and Amblyomma testudinarium, were analyzed both morphologically and molecularly. Morphological identification was conducted using established taxonomic keys, followed by molecular characterization through analysis of complete cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1, 1,539 bp) and mitochondrial 16S rDNA (1,191–1,215 bp), and nuclear 18S rDNA (1,812–1,816 bp). Phylogenetic and pairwise distance analyses demonstrated that all 3 genes were effective for genus identification; cox1 and mitochondrial 16S rDNA were more effective than 18S rDNA in species identification. Additionally, this study is the first to identify H. doenitzi in the Korean mainland via molecular characterization. These results may serve as reference data for the molecular identification of tick species.
Acarapis mites, including Acarapis woodi, Acarapis externus, and Acarapis dorsalis, are parasites of bees which can cause severe damage to the bee industry by destroying colonies and decreasing honey production. All 3 species are prevalent throughout many countries including UK, USA, Iran, Turkey, China, and Japan. Based on previous reports of Acarapis mites occurring in northeast Asia, including China and Japan, we investigated a survey of Acarapis mite infestations in honey bees in Korean apiaries. A total of 99 colonies of Apis mellifera were sampled from 5 provinces. The head and thorax of 20 bees from each colony were removed for DNA extraction. PCR assays were performed with 3 primer sets, including T, A, and K primers. Results indicated that 42.4% (42/99) of samples were Acarapis-positive by PCR assay which were sequenced to identify species. Each sequence showed 92.6-99.3% homology with reference sequences. Based on the homology, the number of colonies infected with A. dorsalis was 32 which showed the highest infection rate among the 3 species, while the number of colonies infected with A. externus and A. woodi was 9 and 1, respectively. However, none of the Acarapis mites were morphologically detected. This result could be explained that all apiaries in the survey used acaricides against bee mites such as Varroa destructor and Tropilaelaps clareae which also affect against Acarapis mites. Based on this study, it is highly probable that Acarapis mites as well as Varroa and Tropilaelaps could be prevalent in Korean apiaries.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Molecular Identification and Prevalence of the Mite Carpoglyphus lactis (Acarina: Carpoglyphidae) in Apis mellifera in the Republic of Korea Thi-Thu Nguyen, Mi-Sun Yoo, Hyang-Sim Lee, So-Youn Youn, Se-Ji Lee, Su-Kyoung Seo, Jaemyung Kim, Yun-Sang Cho Insects.2024; 15(4): 271. CrossRef
PCR-based detection of the honeybee tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi) in Türkiye Rahşan Koç Akpınar, Ali Sevim, Elif Sevim, Selma Kaya, Şakir Önder Türlek, Coşkun AYDIN, Şengül Alpay Karaoğlu, Sema Nur Çelik, Arif Bozdeveci, Gökhan Güven, Bilal Küçükoğlu, Murat Yaldız, İsmail Aydın Parasitology Research.2023; 122(7): 1663. CrossRef
Molecular Detection and Differentiation of Arthropod, Fungal, Protozoan, Bacterial and Viral Pathogens of Honeybees Lucas Lannutti, Fernanda Noemi Gonzales, Maria José Dus Santos, Mónica Florin-Christensen, Leonhard Schnittger Veterinary Sciences.2022; 9(5): 221. CrossRef
Assessment of Parasites Associated with Honeybees (Apis mellifera) from Apiaries in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria A.R. Salau, O.N. Adekunle, O.A. Lawal African Entomology.2020; 28(1): 19. CrossRef
Honey as a Source of Environmental DNA for the Detection and Monitoring of Honey Bee Pathogens and Parasites Anisa Ribani, Valerio Joe Utzeri, Valeria Taurisano, Luca Fontanesi Veterinary Sciences.2020; 7(3): 113. CrossRef
Characterisation of the British honey bee metagenome Tim Regan, Mark W. Barnett, Dominik R. Laetsch, Stephen J. Bush, David Wragg, Giles E. Budge, Fiona Highet, Benjamin Dainat, Joachim R. de Miranda, Mick Watson, Mark Blaxter, Tom C. Freeman Nature Communications.2018;[Epub] CrossRef
First
Prev
