Variation of mitochondrial minichromosome composition in Hoplopleura lice (Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae) from rats
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(2020) 13:506 Fu et al. Parasites Vectors https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-04381-y
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SHORT REPORT
Variation of mitochondrial minichromosome composition in Hoplopleura lice (Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae) from rats Yi‑Tian Fu1, Yu Nie1, De‑Yong Duan1,2* and Guo‑Hua Liu1,2*
Abstract Background: The family Hoplopleuridae contains at least 183 species of blood-sucking lice, which widely parasitize both mice and rats. Fragmented mitochondrial (mt) genomes have been reported in two rat lice (Hoplopleura kitti and H. akanezumi) from this family, but some minichromosomes were unidentified in their mt genomes. Methods: We sequenced the mt genome of the rat louse Hoplopleura sp. with an Illumina platform and compared its mt genome organization with H. kitti and H. akanezumi. Results: Fragmented mt genome of the rat louse Hoplopleura sp. contains 37 genes which are on 12 circular mt minichromosomes. Each mt minichromosome is 1.8–2.7 kb long and contains 1–5 genes and one large non-coding region. The gene content and arrangement of mt minichromosomes of Hoplopleura sp. (n = 3) and H. kitti (n = 3) are different from those in H. akanezumi (n = 3). Phylogenetic analyses based on the deduced amino acid sequences of the eight protein-coding genes showed that the Hoplopleura sp. was more closely related to H. akanezumi than to H. kitti, and then they formed a monophyletic group. Conclusions: Comparison among the three rat lice revealed variation in the composition of mt minichromosomes within the genus Hoplopleura. Hoplopleura sp. is the first species from the family Hoplopleuridae for which a complete fragmented mt genome has been sequenced. The new data provide useful genetic markers for studying the popula‑ tion genetics, molecular systematics and phylogenetics of blood-sucking lice. Keywords: Rat louse, Fragmented mt genome, Phylogenetic analyses Background Blood-sucking lice are known vectors and transmit various disease agents and cause significant vector-borne diseases in humans, domestic and wild mammals [1]. The family Hoplopleuridae contains at least 183 described species of blood-sucking lice currently classified into eight genera [2]. Of the eight genera, Hoplopleura Enderlein, 1904 is the most species-rich (165 described species) *Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected] 1 Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Protein Engineering in Animal Vaccines, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, Hunan, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
found on rodents [3]. The Hoplopleura spp. are common ectoparasites of both mice and rats, causing pruritus, alopecia, dermal irritation and even anemia. Metazoan mitochondrial (mt) genomes are usually circular DNA molecules (13–20 kb) with 36–37 genes that contain 12–13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes and 22 tRNA genes [4]. Some parasitic lice have an unusual, fragmented mt genome organization, but not all species of parasitic lice have been shown to have a fragmen
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