Research article

MOLECULAR DETECTION AND PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF BABESIA SPECIES INFECTED TICKS OF CAMELS (CAMELUS DROMEDARIUS) IN AL-NAJAF AL-ASHRAF PROVINCE, IRAQ

Maytham Askar Alwan AL-Shabbani, Azhar Ali Faraj

Online First: January 15, 2023


The current study was aimed to investigate tick prevalence and identify Babesia species infected ticks of Iraqi one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) based on polymerase chain reaction, sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. A total of 180 camels of various ages and both sexes were randomly examined clinically for the presence of tick specimens during the period from the beginning of December 2020 to the end of August 2021 at the abattoir of Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf province, Iraq. The results confirmed that an overall prevalence of tick infestation was (77.22%) with an intensity (12.99%), where hindlimbs and perianal regions recorded the highest infestation rate (48.78%). All collected ticks belonged to two genera Hyalomma spp. (97.72%) and Rhipicephalus spp. (2.27%). No correlation between tick infestation and risk factors (age and sex), regarding to months there were a significant differences (P ≤ 0.05), where the highest infestation rate was in August (100%). Molecular study based on nested PCR for the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COX1) gene revealed that two species of Babesia, including Babesia bigemina 27% and Babesia bovis 8% infected Hyalomma spp. with significant differences (P ≤ 0.05). For confirmation, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic tree relationship analysis of local Babesia species and isolates related to the NCBI-Blast homology sequence indicated that the local Babesia bigemina camel tick isolates No.1-3 showed closed genetic related into NCBI-BLAST Babesia bigemina Thailand isolate (MW307308.1) with genetic homology sequence identity (98.19%-99.62%) and local Babesia bigemina tick isolates No.4 and 5 showed closed genetic related into Japan isolate (AB499085.1) with genetic homology sequence identity (98.18%-99.28%) and local Babesia bovis camel tick isolates No. 1-3 showed closed genetic related into China isolate (JQ518301.1) with genetic homology sequence identity (99.0%-99.52%) then local Babesia species isolates were submitted into NCBI Genbank and identified by accession numbers (OP094082.1, OP094083.1, OP094084.1, OP094085.1 and OP094086.1) for B. bigemina (OP094079.1, OP094080.1 and OP094081.1) for B. bovis.

Keywords

camel, Hyalomma, Rhipicephalus, nested PCR, Babesia bigemina, Babesia bovis, Iraq.