Morphological and phylogenetic study of Hyalomma anatolicum in Al-Najaf, Iraq

Studies had been previously conducted to genetically identify species of ticks in Iraq. Therefore, the current investigational study was conducted to recognize the species of 50 ticks collected from infested skin of cattle. The current study defined the ticks to be from Hyalomma genus depending on theirmorphological features. Using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (CoxI) gene, 16 ticks were further confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Two PCR products were subjected to DNA sequencing to name the species of the ticks and compare them to some other known ticks in neighbor and world countries. The sequencing results identified the ticks to be Hyalomma anatolicum. One isolate is closely similar to Indian and Iranian isolates, and the other isolate is clustered alone by itself. The results indicated that H. anatolicum is one of the wide-spread ticks that affect cattle in Al Najaf province, Iraq