Amblyomma americanum is a hard tick species found in southern Indiana. Once a notorious pest to humans and livestock, A. americanum has now taken on a role as vector to pathogenic organisms. This study aimed to detect and quantify three microbes in A. americanum: Rickettsia amblyommii, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, and Borrelia lonestari. A primary objective of this study was to determine microbial interaction within a single A. americanum tick through quantification of each microbe within a co-infected tick. A second objective was to determine the density of R. amblyommii within the salivary glands of A. americanum ticks. Infection rates were 44%, 1%, and 0% for R. amblyommii, E. chaffeensis, and B. lonestari respectively. This study found no co-infected ticks, therefore no microbial interaction was determined. This study also found multiple drawbacks with utilizing quantitative real-time PCR to determine the density of R. amblyommii within the salivary glands of A. americanum ticks. / Department of Biology
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/188287 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Dearth, Stephanie M. |
| Contributors | Pinger, R. R. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | x, 58 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us-in |
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