Ticks and associated pathogens collected from cats in Sicily and Calabria (Italy)

Parasites & Vectors

Table 1 Primers used for pathogen detection and tick genomic DNA amplification^a

Pathogen	Region amplified	Primer Forward (5’-3’)	Primer Reverse (5’-3’)	Final [primer] (μM)	PCR Product (bp)	Reference
Hepatozoon felis	18S rRNA	CTTACCGTGGCAGTGACGGT	TGTTATTTCTTGTCACTACCTCTCTTATGC	0.3	146	[11]
Ehrlichia/ Anaplasma spp.	16S rRNA	GCAAGCYTAACACATGCAAGTCG	CTACTAGGTAGATTCCTAYGCATTACTCACC	0.5	102^b	[11]
Piroplasmid	18S rRNA	GACGATCAGATACCGTCGTAGTCC	CAGAACCCAAAGACTTTGATTTCTCTC	0.3	114^b	VetGenomic In-house design
Rickettsia spp.	ITS1	GCTCGATTGRTTTACTTTGCTGTGAG	CATGCTATAACCACCAAGCTAGCAATAC	0.5/0.3	300^b	[11]
Bartonella spp.	ITS1	AGATGATGATCCCAAGCCTTCTG	CCTCCGACCTCACGCTTATCA	0.3	180^b	Modified from [12] and [13]
Hemotropic Mycoplasma spp.	16S	GGAATCACTAGTAATCCYGTGTCAGCTATAT	GGCGGTGTGTACAAGCCTGG	0.3	187^b	[14]

^aThe eukaryotic 18S RNA Pre-Developed TaqMan Assay Reagents (AB, Life technologies) was used as an internal reference for genomic DNA amplification to ensure the proper PCR amplification of each sample. ^bTargeted size could vary depending on the species

ISSN: 1756-3305