Despite high diversity in the Oriental region, ticks of the genus Haemaphysalis have been neglected regarding their genetic data and vector potential. This study aimed to genetically characterize three species of the genus Haemaphysalis: Haemaphysalis cornupunctata, Haemaphysalis kashmirensis, and Haemaphysalis montgomeryi infesting goats and sheep, and Rickettsia spp. associated with these tick species in the Hindu Kush Himalayan range of Pakistan. Altogether, 834 ticks were collected by examining 120 hosts including goats (64/120, 53.3%) and sheep (56/120, 46.6%), in which 86 (71.6%) hosts were found to be tick-infested. The morphologically identified ticks were subjected to DNA extraction and PCR for the amplification of partial 16S rDNA and cox fragments. Rickettsia spp. associated with the collected ticks were detected through the amplification of gltA, ompA and ompB partial fragments. The 16S rDNA of H. cornupunctata and H. montgomeryi showed a maximum identity of 100% with the sequences of the same species, whereas the 16S rDNA of H. kashmirensis showed the highest identity of 93-95% with Haemaphysalis sulcata. The cox sequence of H. montgomeryi displayed 100% identity with the same species. In comparison, the cox sequences of H. cornupunctata and H. kashmirensis showed maximum identities of 87.65-89.22% with Haemaphysalis punctata and 89.34% with H. sulcata, respectively. The gltA sequence of Rickettsia sp. from H. kashmirensis showed the highest identity of 97.89% with Rickettsia conorii subsp. raoultii, while the ompA and ompB fragments from the same DNA samples revealed 100% and 98.16% identity with Rickettsia sp. and "Candidatus Rickettsia longicornii", respectively. Another gltA sequence amplified from H. montgomeryi ticks showed 100% identity with Rickettsia hoogstraalii, while the attempts to amplify ompA and ompB for R. hoogstraalii were unsuccessful. In the phylogenetic tree, the 16S rDNA of H. cornupunctata clustered with the corresponding species while its cox clustered with H. punctata. Both 16S rDNA and cox sequences of H. kashmirensis clustered with H. sulcata. The gltA sequence of Rickettsia sp. was clustered individually in the spotted fever (SF) group of Rickettsia, while the gltA sequence of R. hoogstraalii was clustered with the same species in the transition group of Rickettsia. In the SF group, the rickettsial ompA and ompB sequence clustered with undetermined Rickettsia sp. and "Candidatus Rickettsia longicornii", respectively. This is the earliest study regarding the genetic characterization of H. kashmirensis. This study indicated that ticks belong to the genus Haemaphysalis have the potential of harboring and/or transmitting Rickettsia spp. in the region.
Keywords: Haemaphysalis cornupunctata; Haemaphysalis kashmirensis; Haemaphysalis montgomeryi; Rickettsia hoogstraalii.