Tticks collection of academician E.N. Pavlovsky and modern prospects of molecular genetic research

E.N. Pavlovsky is founder of doctrine about the natural foci diseases. The unique collection of ticks (Argasidae), which are highly specialized ectoparasites of terrestrial vertebrate animals. Part of the collection was formed during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1943) in Iran in the Trans-Iranian Route zone (Persian Corridor), one of the strategic directions for the delivery of American and British military aid to the Soviet Union. Currently, the richest collection of ticks is stored at the Department of Biology of the Military Medical Academy. C.M. Kirov, the permanent leader of which for over 40 years was E.N. Pavlovsky. The collection includes more than 15 thousand copies of arthropods. Among them are Ornithodorus papillitis, Ornithodorus tartakovsky, Ornithodorus lahorensis, Ornithodorus Verrucosus, Argas persicus, as well as some other carriers of human infectious diseases. The historical collection of ticks is considered as a unique resource for the study of infectious pathogens and their vectors using molecular genetic techniques. The preservation of genetic material in the museum samples of ticks was studied in order to determine the possibility of detecting in them deoxyribonucleotide markers of tick-borne pathogens (tick-borne infections).. Genetic markers of tick-borne infections were identified in 10 instances from of 48 ticks instances. The 8 samples were positive for the presence fragments of nucleic acids of tick-borne rickettsia (Rickettsia species). There were identified the genetic markers of causative agent Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi s.l.) in one of the samples. In addition, the deoxyribonucleic acid fragments specific to Q-fever (Coxiella burnetii) were discovered in one case. The obtained data testify to the high scientific significance of the E.N. Pavlovsky collection in modern conveniences. The unique biological material can be used to study the structure and evolution of the genome of ticks Argasidae, as well as etiology and the spread of tick-borne infections.

E.N. Pavlovsky, ticks collection, Argasidae, tick-born relapsing fever, Polymerase chain reaction, Real-time polymerase chain reaction, Quantitative polymerase chain reaction, middle Asia, Iran, «Persian Corridor», Lend Lease