Phylogeny of the hard ticks (Ixodidae) inferred from 18S rRNA indicates that the genus Aponomma is paraphyletic.

We examined the phylogeny of ticks (Acari:Parasitiformes:Ixodida) and their closest known mite relatives (Acari:Parasitiformes:Mesostigmata and Holothyrida) using 18S rRNA sequences. In our analyses, we included sequences from 36 taxa. Sequences for 13 hard ticks (Family Ixodidae), 5 soft ticks (Family Argasidae), and 2 mesostigmatid mites were obtained from the GenBank database and we generated sequences for 15 hard ticks and 1 holothyrid mite. Ten of these tick species were endemic to Australia. Our analyses indicated that the suborder Holothyrida is more closely related to Ixodida than to Mesostigmata, the group used as outgroup in earlier molecular studies. This finding is consistent with Lehtinen's (1991) hypothesis that the Holothyrida rather than the Mesostigmata is the sister-group to the Ixodida. Within the hard ticks the genus Aponomma and thus the family Amblyomminae were paraphyletic. Taxonomic revision of these taxa is needed. The genus Amblyomma was paraphyletic without the inclusion of "typical" Aponomma species (Ap. latum and Ap. fimbriatum). There was a basal divergence between endemic Australian and other species in both the Metastriata and the Prostriata divisions of the hard ticks.

Dobson SJ ，Barker SC 《MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION》

Phylogenetic relationships among tick subfamilies (Ixodida: Ixodidae: Argasidae) based on the 18S nuclear rDNA gene.

Phylogenetic relationships among tick subfamilies have been estimated using morphological and molecular characters. However, the phylogeny based on a portion of the 16S mitochondrial rDNA gene differed from the morphologically based phylogeny in a number of important respects. The entire 18S rDNA gene was examined in 18 taxa from all tick subfamilies to test the 16S rDNA based phylogeny. The 18S phylogeny supports the earlier 16S based phylogeny in placing members of Hyalomminae on a common branch with members of the Rhipicephalinae and in indicating long branch lengths among soft tick taxa. However, unlike the 16S phylogeny, Amblyomminae was monophyletic and members of Haemaphysalinae did not arise within Amblyomminae. Argasinae formed a monophyletic group within Argasidae and was not a sister taxon of the hard ticks. In most respects, the phylogeny based on the 18S rDNA gene resembles the morphologically based phylogeny.

Black WC 4th ，Klompen JS ，Keirans JE 《MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION》

Phylogeny of parasitiform mites (Acari) based on rRNA.

Klompen H ，Lekveishvili M ，Black WC 4th 《MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION》

Phylogeny of ticks (Ixodida) inferred from nuclear ribosomal DNA.

Phylogenetic relationships of 9 species of ticks were inferred from nucleotide sequences of the D1 domain of large subunit ribosomal DNA (rDNA), the V4 region of small subunit rDNA and sequences immediately adjacent to these regions. Six of the 7 subfamilies in the Argasidae and Ixodidae were represented: Ornithodorinae and Argasinae from the Argasidae (soft ticks); and Ixodinae, Amblyomminae, Haemaphysalinae and Rhipicephalinae from the Ixodidae (hard ticks). A mite, Phytoseiulus persimilis, from the Mesostigmata, the putative sister group of the Ixodida, was used for out-group reference. Our sequence alignment, which contained the D1, V4 and adjacent sequences, comprised 503 sites; 209 of these varied among the species studied and 77 were phylogenetically informative, i.e. at least 2 different nucleotides were represented at least twice. This alignment was subjected to maximum parsimony, genetic distance and maximum likelihood analyses. We found strong support in bootstrap resampling experiments for the following relationships: (i) monophyly of the 7 species of Ixodidae (98-100% support); (ii) monophyly of the 2 species of Amblyomma (93-99%); (iii) monophyly of the 6 species of Metastriata (96-99%); (iv) a sister-group relationship between Ixodes pilosus and the 6 species of Metastriata (98-100%); and (v) a sister-group relationship between Ornithodoros capensis (Ornithodorinae) and the 7 species of Ixodidae (94-99% support). The last result may be preliminary evidence that the Argasidae family (soft ticks) is paraphyletic since the 2 argasid species did not form a monophyletic group. The paraphyletic status of the Argasidae has been previously suggested by Black & Piesman (1994; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 91: 10034). Our study indicates that the D1, V4 and adjacent sequences may be used to answer long-standing questions about the phylogeny of the Ixodida.

Crampton A ，McKay I ，Barker SC 《INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY》

A total-evidence phylogeny of ticks provides insights into the evolution of life cycles and biogeography.

We inferred the phylogeny of 33 species of ticks from the subfamilies Rhipicephalinae and Hyalomminae from analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA and morphology. We used nucleotide sequences from 12S rRNA, cytochrome c oxidase I, internal transcribed spacer 2 of the nuclear rRNA, and 18S rRNA. Nucleotide sequences and morphology were analyzed separately and together in a total-evidence analysis. Analyses of the five partitions together (3303 characters) gave the best-resolved and the best-supported hypothesis so far for the phylogeny of ticks in the Rhipicephalinae and Hyalomminae, despite the fact that some partitions did not have data for some taxa. However, most of the hidden conflict (lower support in the total-evidence analyses compared to that in the individual analyses) was found in those partitions that had taxa without data. The partitions with complete taxonomic sampling had more hidden support (higher support in the total-evidence analyses compared to that in the separate-partition analyses) than hidden conflict. Mapping of geographic origins of ticks onto our phylogeny indicates an African origin for the Rhipicephalinae sensu lato (i.e., including Hyalomma spp.), the Rhipicephalus-Boophilus lineage, the Dermacentor-Anocentor lineage, and the Rhipicephalus-Booophilus-Nosomma-Hyalomma-Rhipicentor lineage. The Nosomma-Hyalomma lineage appears to have evolved in Asia. Our total-evidence phylogeny indicates that (i) the genus Rhipicephalus is paraphyletic with respect to the genus Boophilus, (ii) the genus Dermacentor is paraphyletic with respect to the genus Anocentor, and (iii) some subgenera of the genera Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus are paraphyletic with respect to other subgenera in these genera. Study of the Rhipicephalinae and Hyalomminae over the last 7 years has shown that analyses of individual datasets (e.g., one gene or morphology) seldom resolve many phylogenetic relationships, but analyses of more than one dataset can generate well-resolved phylogenies for these ticks.

Murrell A ，Campbell NJ ，Barker SC 《MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION》