MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF ANAPLASMA PHAGOCYTOPHILUM IN IXODID TICKS IN KAYSERİ REGION IN TURKEY

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the presence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in ixodid ticks collected from cattle in Kayseri region of Turkey using Real Time PCR and to characterize positive isolates based on 16S rRNA gene region. DNA was extracted from 265 adult ticks. Nested PCR analyses were performed using Anaplasma phagocytophilum-specific primers amplifying a 641 bp fragment of 16S rRNA gene region. Real Time PCR analysis revealed positive results in one H. marginatum and R. turanicus sample. DNA sequences were submitted to GenBank and analyzed by pairwise and multiple sequence alignments with other A. phagocytophilum strains in GenBank to investigate the phylogeny. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that A. phagocytophilum isolates collected from H. marginatum and R. turanicus samples in Kayseri region clustered into three main groups (A, B, and C) with previously reported isolates from the world. A and B groups showed high homology, whereas C group had an average genetic variation of 0.2%. The average genetic differences between A and B groups were 10.8±2.0 and 13.0±2.7% between A and C groups, while the average genetic difference between B and C groups was 13.8±2.8%. In conclusion, this study provides scientific data on molecular prevalence and genetic characteristics of A. phagocytophilum in tick samples in Turkey.