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ARS Home » Plains Area » Kerrville, Texas » Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory » Livestock Arthropod Pest Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #420168
Research Project: Management of Ticks of Veterinary Importance

Location: Livestock Arthropod Pest Research Unit

Title: Genome Report: Whole-genome assembly of the relapsing fever tick Ornithodoros turicata Dugès (Acari: Argasidae)

Author
item Tietjen, Mackenzie
item STAHLKE, AMANDA - Colorado Mesa University
item Luecke, David
item Saelao, Perot
item Sim, Sheina
item Geib, Scott
item Scheffler, Brian
item Childers, Anna
item KNEUBEHL, ALEXANDER - Baylor College Of Medicine
item TEEL, PETE - Texas A&M University
item LOPEZ, JOB - Baylor College Of Medicine

Submitted to: G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/10/2025
Publication Date: 6/13/2025
Citation: Tietjen, M., Stahlke, A.R., Luecke, D.M., Saelao, P., Sim, S.B., Geib, S.M., Scheffler, B.E., Childers, A.K., Kneubehl, A.R., Teel, P.D., Lopez, J.E. 2025. Genome Report: Whole-genome assembly of the relapsing fever tick Ornithodoros turicata Dugès (Acari: Argasidae). G3: Genes, genomics, genetics. https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkaf103.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkaf103

Interpretive Summary: The relapsing fever tick is a soft tick and no reference genomes are available for this family of ticks. This tick can transmit relapsing fever and African swine fever virus. To provide a molecular resource for soft ticks the genome was sequenced and assembled at a detailed high quality. The size of the resulting genome is 1.1 Giga base pairs with 10 chromosomes. This tool can be used to support vector-borne disease management.

Technical Abstract: The soft tick family, Argasidae, contains vectors of medical and veterinary importance but they have less molecular tools available compared to hard ticks. The relapsing fever tick, Ornithodoros turicata, can transmit relapsing fever bacteria and African swine fever virus. To produce a molecular resource for soft ticks, a chromosome-level genome was assembled for O. turicata using PacBio sequencing in conjunction with an Illumina Hi-C library. The resulting reference genome has a total of 1.1 Gbp and 10 chromosomes. The orthology analysis indicated high-quality with a 97.8% completeness score. This is the first soft tick reference genome, establishing a basis for future studies to utilize genomic tools to support vector-borne disease management.