Molecular Identification of Otherwise Unidentifiable “Brown Legged” Rodent Ticks

Biology Honors project funded in part by Department of Biological Sciences (Rachel Niemiec).

Ticks have a profound impact on human health due to the pathogens they carry. For this reason, it is important to know which species are collected from different animal that may serve as reservoirs.

There are three prominent species of “brown legged” ticks in the Hampton Roads area. They are the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum, the Lone Star tick, Amblyomma americanum, and the dog tick, Dermacentor variablis. Each of these ticks is different in its host preference, as well as the pathogens they are able carry and transmit (see information in the "Its tick time" blog posting). This project uses different molecular methods to identify brown legged ticks collected from rodents at several different sites. Identification through morphology can be difficult when the tick is engorged or missing mouth parts from ticks in their first two life stages.

During this study DNA was extracted from the ticks, amplified using PCR, and analysed following restriction enzyme digestion (restriction fragment length polymorphism - RFLP). We also tested the extracted DNA for the presence of Rickettsial DNA .

RFLP analysis indicated that we were able to differentiate the three brown legged ticks found in this area- Dermacentor variabilis, Amblyomma maculatum and A. americanum. We had trouble amplifying DNA from some of the ticks; this may have been due to degradation of DNA over time as many of the ticks had been stored for a number of years.  Most of the ticks tested from rodents were identified as Dermacentor variabilis indicating a preference of the immature stages of this tick for rodents. 

Approximately 25% of the ticks tested were positive for the presence of rickettsial DNA; the species of Rickettsia is unknown at this time.

It's tick time

Its that time of the year - ticks are out and so are we.

Do you know what to do when you get a tick bite? How to protect yourself? What ticks are present in the Hampton Roads area? What diseases you are at risk for?

Check out the information in the poster below.

Contact information for tick related questions at the bottom of the poster...

Faculty/Staff/Student Awards

Congratulations to the following faculty, staff and students who received College of Science and/or University awards for the 2013-14 academic year:

David Gauthier: Provost's Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor and College Outstanding Undergraduate Advisor

Marcus Jones: College Outstanding Staff Member of the Year; Curator of the The Arthur and Phyllis Kaplan Orchid Conservatory

Rebecca Bray: College Distinguished Teaching Award for Adjuncts

Student awards:
Graduate Students:
Outstanding Biology lab GTA: Anthony Nanajian
Outstanding Classroon Instructor: Jessica Beard

Undergraduate Students
Quincy Cheesman: Alumni Association's Outstanding College Scholar Award
Taylor D'Etcheverty: Outstanding Undergraduate in Biology
 Allissa Bunner: Outstanding Undergraduate Service in Biology,

Another Fulbright for Lytton Musselman

Professor Lytton Musselman received another Fulbright award (this is number 4; previous awards have been to Sudan, West Bank and Jordan ), this time to work with undergraduates at Universiti Brunei Darussalam in Brunei as a botanist on the flora in the country. He will be involved in training of students in plant identification and with establishing experiments in the field that students and faculty at Brunei Darussalam can pursue in the future.

Corals and climate change

Dr Dan Barshis, a new faculty member in the Biology Department publishes two articles on the effects of climate change on ocean corals. Check out the ODU News summary here

The first in Science makes the case for corals being able to adapt to waters that are dangerously warm (read the abstract for the Science article here).

The second paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution examines the climate-change adaptability of a dinoflagellate (Symbiodiniumone), one of coral's symbiotic algae partners; these symbionts don't seem to notice the water changing around them. Article here

Jessica Beard - Outstanding graduate teaching assistant 2014

Congratulations to Jessica Beard who this year is one of two Outstanding GTA award winners for the entire university.  Jessica was nominated by the department for the College award, and then by the College for the University Award. Jesscia has been a GTA in the General Biology class, but recently has been the instructor for Animal Behavior and Entomology.

Erin Heller - Grad Student in Biology collects awards _UPDATED

Erin Heller, a Masters student in the lab of Dr. Eric Walters is a 2014 recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate ResearchFellowship. Erin competed with over 14,000 other applicants for this prestigious award. The award provides a stipend and tuition support for 3 years towards a PhD. Upon completing her Masters degree on the effects of urbanization on the relationship among birds, ticks, and tick-borne disease pathogens here at Old Dominion University, Erin plans to continue her studies in avian ecology and behavior at the doctoral level. More about this here.

Erin also won the Virginia Society of Ornithology's J.J. Murray Research Award.  The award is designed to promote graduate and undergraduate research, and the research must consist of current or projected field studies on Virginia birds.  Proposals will be judged for their scientific merit and the likelihood that the work will make a meaningful contribution to our understanding of Virginia avifauna.

Erin Heller has been awarded a Champion of Diversity award by the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity.

Since originally posted Erin has recieved yet another couple of awards:

Erin was awarded a 2014 Old Dominion University Alumni Association Outstanding Scholar Fellowship.

Erin was awarded the Best Student Oral Presentation by a graduate student at the annual meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science for her paper entitled “The effects of urbanization on the relationship among birds, ticks, and tick-borne pathogens.”

Congratulations, Erin!