The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence and abundance of deer keds on various cervids in Lithuania, to molecularly characterize the deer ked species based on mitochondrial COI and 16S rRNA genes, and to compare them with Lipoptena species found in other countries. A total of 11,939 deer keds (Lipoptena cervi and Lipoptena fortisetosa) was collected from the fur of 30 cervids in Lithuania between 2015 and 2019. The values of infestation with deer keds differed among the species of the hosts. Moose and red deer were more frequently infested with L. cervi than with L. fortisetosa, while L. fortisetosa was found more often on roe deer. Phylogenetic analysis of the COI and 16S rRNA genes of five Lipoptena species revealed 110 and 55 variable nucleotide positions, respectively. Among Lithuanian samples, three COI haplotypes of L. cervi and three haplotypes of L. fortisetosa were detected, while there was no variation observed in the 16S rRNA sequences analyzed with one haplotype of L. cervi and one haplotype of L. fortisetosa. This is the first study on L. cervi and L. fortisetosa parasitizing cervids and the first molecular characterization of these deer ked species in Lithuania.

中文翻译：

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来自鹿科动物 Lioptena deer keds 的流行、丰度和分子特征

本研究的目的是调查立陶宛各种鹿科动物中鹿的流行和丰度，基于线粒体COI和16S rRNA基因对鹿种进行分子表征，并将其与其他国家发现的Lioptena物种进行比较。2015年至2019年间，从立陶宛30头鹿的皮毛中采集到11,939头鹿（Lipoptena cervi和Lipoptena fortisetosa ）。鹿的侵染值因宿主物种而异。驼鹿和马鹿感染L. cervi的频率高于L. fortisetosa，而L. fortisetosa在狍身上更常见。对五种Lioptena物种的COI和16S rRNA基因的系统发育分析分别揭示了 110 和 55 个可变核苷酸位置。在立陶宛样本中，检测到三种鹿乳杆菌的COI单倍型和三种鹿乳杆菌的单倍型，而用一种鹿乳杆菌单倍型和一种鹿乳杆菌单倍型分析的16S rRNA序列没有观察到变异。这是对鹿乳杆菌和L. fortisetosa的首次研究寄生鹿科动物和立陶宛这些鹿科动物的第一个分子特征。