MOLECULAR DETECTION OF BORRELIA SP. IN ORNITHODOROS SAVIGNYI AND RHIPICEPHALUS ANNULATUS BY FlaB GENE AND BABESIA BIGEMINA IN R. ANNULATUS BY 18S rRNA GENE

HASSAN, MOSTAFA I.; GABR, HANAN S. M.; ABDEL-SHAFY, SOBHY; HAMMAD, KOTB M.; MOKHTAR, MOSTAFA M.

doi:10.21608/jesp.2017.77795

MOLECULAR DETECTION OF BORRELIA SP. IN ORNITHODOROS SAVIGNYI AND RHIPICEPHALUS ANNULATUS BY FlaB GENE AND BABESIA BIGEMINA IN R. ANNULATUS BY 18S rRNA GENE

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt.

² Department of Zoology and Agricultural Nematology, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.

³ Department of Parasitology and Animal Diseases, Veterinary Research Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

10.21608/jesp.2017.77795

Abstract

This study determined the ability of the soft tick, Ornithodoros savignyi and the hard tick, Rhipicephalus (formerly Boophilus) annulatus to serve as carrier for new genotypes of Borrelia and Babesia. Ornithodoros savignyi, was collected in the summer, 2015 from camel market at Shalatein, Red Sea Governorate, while R. annulatus was collected from cows at Salhia, Sharkia Governorate and Banha, Qalyoubia Governorate. Hemolymph smears were prepared and stained with Giemsa stain and examined by light microscope (LM) for the presence of spiral form of Borrelia and vermicule stage of
Babesia. The tick specimens that revealed positive infection with either Borrelia or Babesia by LM were screened by PCR using flaB gene for Borrelia and 18S rRNA gene for Babesia. The obtained amplicons were sequenced, registered in GenBank and the phylogenetic trees for the obtained sequences were constructed. Results showed that spirochetes (Borrelia) were found in O. savignyi and R. annulatus, while the vermicule form of Babesia was found in R. annulatus only. The PCR amplified Borrelia and Babesia at 350 &50 bp, respectively. The obtained amplicons were recorded in GenBank
with accession number MF084762, MF084761 & MF004418 for Borrelia sp. in O. savignyi, Borrelia sp. in R. annula-tus and B. bigemina in R. annulatus, respectively. The genotype of Borrelia sp. recorded in O. savignyi is very close to B. burgdroferi that causes Lyme disease in human. But, genotype of Borrelia sp. recorded in R. annulatus is close to B. theileri that causes a mild disease in animals. Genotype of Babesia in R. annulatus was 100% identical with B. bigemina that recorded before.

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