Electrophoretic identification of allozyme variation in natural population of ticks Ixodes persulcatus Schulze (Acari: Ixodidae) in Irkutsk suburbs

Allozyme structure of the tick population Ixodes persulcatus coded by nine enzyme gene loci has been studied using two subsamples of ticks from Irkutsk suburban areas. Nine loci out of fourteen were polymorphic in ticks of Baikal highway population, whereas five loci were polymorphic in tics sampled from Goloustnoye highway. High level of intra-population heterogeneity of ticks has been revealed. No distinction between two populations from different nidi of infection has been recorded. It was probably due to the high rate of gene migration between the studied populations and to their high genetic similarity.