Figure 3

Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on 476 nucleotides of B. miyamotoi 16S-23S rRNA IGS haplotypes collected from Pitsfield Banding Station, 2004–2007. A sequence of B. lonestari obtained from GenBank was included as the outgroup. The twelve sequences generated in the current study are in bold and comprised two strain types, including 11 sequences that are identical to ‘Type 4’ (accession no. GU993308) and one novel strain indicated by the red triangle (GU993309). The percentages of replicate trees in which the associated taxa clustered together in the bootstrap test (1000 replicates) are shown next to the branches when 60 or higher. Sequences are labeled with the name of the tick species from which B. miyamotoi was amplified followed by the tick life stage/sex (NN = nymph; LL = larval pool), a four-letter alpha code indicating the avian host (AMRO = American Robin; HETH = Hermit Thrush; NOCA = Northern Cardinal), and a laboratory identification code. Additional sequences downloaded from GenBank comprise the reported genetic diversity of B. miyamotoi at the IGS locus and are labeled with spirochete origin.