A Novel Real-Time PCR Assay for the Speciation of Medically Important Ticks

• DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2006.6.152
• Publication Date: 2006-06-23T21:12:23Z
• Authors: Scott M. Shone; Harry J. Dillon; Sherman S. Hom; Nelson Delgado
• Keywords: Genetic algorithm

The identification of ticks using morphological characters is a well-established practice, however specimens that are small or damaged often difficult to speciate. A novel, rapid real-time PCR assay, which targets the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region in nuclear ribosomal DNA gene, was developed for four tick species utmost medical importance United States: Ixodes scapularis, I. pacificus, Dermacentor variabilis, and Amblyomma americanum. Computational analyses public databases sequencing studies revealed regions could be specifically targeted with oligonucleotides optimized TaqMan® chemistry. oligonucleotide sets designed this study specific at both genus levels, sensitive 0.1–1 pg total DNA.