Variation in mitochondrial minichromosome composition between blood-sucking lice of the genus Haematopinus that infest horses and pigs.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The genus Haematopinus contains 21 species of blood-sucking lice, parasitizing both even-toed ungulates (pigs, cattle, buffalo, antelopes, camels and deer) and odd-toed ungulates (horses, donkeys and zebras). The mitochondrial genomes of the domestic pig louse, Haematopinus suis, and the wild pig louse, Haematopinus apri, have been sequenced recently; both lice have fragmented mitochondrial genomes with 37 genes on nine minichromosomes. To understand whether the composition of mitochondrial minichromosomes and the gene content and gene arrangement of each minichromosome are stable within the genus, we sequenced the mitochondrial genome of the horse louse, Haematopinus asini.

Methods

We used a PCR-based strategy to amplify four mitochondrial minichromosomes in near

SUBMITTER: Song SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4022054 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature