Morphological Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis of Laelapin Mite Species (Acari: Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) from China

Abstract

Laelapinae mites are involved in transmission of microbial diseases between wildlife and humans, with an impact on public health. In this study, 5 mite members in the subfamily Laelapinae (laelapin mites; LM) were morphologically identified by light microscopy, and the phylogenetic relationship of LM was analyzed in combination with the sequence information of part of the LM cytochrome oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene. The morphological identification revealed that 5 mites belonged to the genera Laelaps and Haemolaelaps, respectively. Sequence analysis showed that the ratio of non-synonymous mutation rate to synonymous mutation rate of LM was less than 1, indicating that the LM cox1 gene had undergone purifying selection. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Laelapinae is a monophyletic group. The genera Haemolaelaps and Hyperlaelaps did not separated into distinct clades but clustered together with species of the genus Laelaps. Our morphological and molecular analyses to describe the phylogenetic relationships among different genera and species of Laelapinae provide a reference for the improvement and revision of the LM taxonomy system.

Molecular Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis of Laelapidae Mites (Acari: Mesostigmata)

“…The mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene was used for the taxonomical identification of mesostigmatic mites and the determination of their intra- and interspecific variation [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Recent genetic studies investigated the population genetic structure of Laelaps agilis mites across Europe and revealed their phylogenetic relationships [ 28 ].…”

The first complete mitochondrial genome of the genus Echinolaelaps reveals mitochondrial genome rearrangement type and evolution of Gamasida

“…longigynium and Quadristernoseta cf. intermedia ) retained the ancestral pattern of mitochondrial gene arrangement of arthropod, while other species show varying degrees of rearrangement (Thomas et al ., 2011 ; Osuna-Mascaró et al ., 2020 ; Zhang et al ., 2021 ; Yang et al ., 2022 ). However, there are multiple gene duplications in the mitochondrial genomes of Euseius nicholsi (2 of trnM and trnF ) and Metaseiulus occidentalis (duplicated 18 genes).…”

Complete mitochondrial genome of Penicillidia jenynsii (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea: Nycteribiidae) and phylogenetic relationship

“…The mitochondrial genome is the only extra-nuclear genetic information carrier in animals, and it has the characteristics of lack of extensive recombination, conserved gene content, matrilineal inheritance, small molecular weight (approximately 14–21 kb), high mutation rate and a fast evolutionary rate (Yang et al ., 2022 ). Therefore, mitochondrial DNA is often considered a useful molecular marker for species identification, phylogeography, analysis of population structure and dynamics and molecular evolution.…”