Phylogeny of parasitiform mites (Acari) based on rRNA

Acari (mites and ticks) form one the most diverse lineages of arthropods, but basal relationships in the group are still poorly understood. The current study addresses this issue for one of its two main lineages, the order Parasitiformes. Relationships are examined at the subordinal and infraordinal level using complete 18S and partial 28S nuclear rRNA sequence data. Most currently recognized lineages are recovered with good support, suggesting that nuclear rRNA, and specifically 18S rRNA, is very well suited for analyzing relationships at this level in this lineage. These results were found despite quite variable rates of sequence evolution, with rates “ratcheting up” from relatively low in most non-mite arachnid lineages, to intermediate in Pseudoscorpiones, the mite order Acariformes, and the parasitiform suborders Opilioacarida, Holothyrida, and Ixodida, to high in the parasitiform suborder Mesostigmata. The most species rich mesostigmatid infraorder, Dermanyssina, shows huge distances to the outgroups, but remarkably low within-group divergence in nuclear rRNA. This suggests the possibility of a relatively recent origin of this lineage.