Characterization of the bacterial microbiota in wild-caught Ixodes ventalloi

Díaz-Sánchez, Sandra; Hernández-Jarguín, Angélica; Torina, Alessandra; Mera, Isabel G. Fernández de; Blanda, Valeria; Caracappà, S.; Gortázar, Christian; Fuente, José de la

doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.11.014

Cited by 26 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…and Pasteurella spp. are bacterial genera that have been reported as part of the microbiota of hard ticks, as in Ixodes simplex and I. ventalloi, respectively [59,60]. In the present study with O. turicata, the presence of Mycoplasma spp.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 50%

General Microbiota of the Soft Tick Ornithodoros turicata Parasitizing the Bolson Tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus) in the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

Barraza-Guerrero

Meza-Herrera

Peña

et al. 2020

Biology

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The general bacterial microbiota of the soft tick Ornithodoros turicata found on Bolson tortoises (Gopherus flavomarginatus) were analyzed using next generation sequencing. The main aims of the study were to establish the relative abundance of bacterial taxa in the tick, and to document the presence of potentially pathogenic species for this tortoise, other animals, and humans. The study was carried-out in the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve in the northern-arid part of Mexico. Bolson tortoises (n = 45) were inspected for the presence of soft ticks, from which 11 tortoises (24.4%) had ticks in low loads (1–3 ticks per individual). Tick pools (five adult ticks each) were analyzed through 16S rRNA V3–V4 region amplification in a MiSeq Illumina, using EzBioCloud as a taxonomical reference. The operational taxonomic units (OTUs) revealed 28 phyla, 84 classes, 165 orders, 342 families, 1013 genera, and 1326 species. The high number of taxa registered for O. turicata may be the result of the variety of hosts that this tick parasitizes as they live inside G. flavomarginatus burrows. While the most abundant phyla were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes, the most abundant species were two endosymbionts of ticks (Midichloria-like and Coxiella-like). Two bacteria documented as pathogenic to Gopherus spp. were registered (Mycoplasma spp. and Pasteurella testudinis). The bovine and ovine tick-borne pathogens A. marginale and A. ovis, respectively, were recorded, as well as the zoonotic bacteria A. phagocytophilum,Coxiella burnetii, and Neoehrlichia sp. Tortoises parasitized with O. turicata did not show evident signs of disease, which could indicate a possible ecological role as a reservoir that has yet to be demonstrated. In fact, the defense mechanisms of this tortoise against the microorganisms transmitted by ticks during their feeding process are still unknown. Future studies on soft ticks should expand our knowledge about what components of the microbiota are notable across multiple host–microbe dynamics. Likewise, studies are required to better understand the host competence of this tortoise, considered the largest terrestrial reptile in North America distributed throughout the Chihuahuan Desert since the late Pleistocene.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 50%

General Microbiota of the Soft Tick Ornithodoros turicata Parasitizing the Bolson Tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus) in the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

Barraza-Guerrero

Meza-Herrera

Peña

et al. 2020

Biology

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“…Proteobacteria were the most abundant phylum in the two species and the phyla Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Tenericutes had high relative abundance; these findings are consistent with the findings in other tick species [60, 62, 63]. A special case was found in D. marginatus males, which had high relative abundance of Chlamydiae.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

The bacterial microbiome of field-collected Dermacentor marginatus and Dermacentor reticulatus from Slovakia

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2019

Parasites Vectors

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Background The important roles of microbial flora in tick biology and ecology have received much attention. Dermacentor marginatus and Dermacentor reticulatus are known vectors of various pathogens across Europe, including Slovakia. However, their bacterial microbiomes are poorly explored. Methods In this study, bacterial microbiomes of field-collected D. marginatus and D. reticulatus from Slovakia were characterized using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. Results Different analyses demonstrated that the D. marginatus and D. reticulatus microbiomes differ in their diversity and taxonomic structures. Furthermore, species- and sex-specific bacteria were detected in the two species. A possible bacterial pathogen “ Candidatus Rhabdochlamydia sp.” was detected from D. marginatus males. Among the observed bacteria, Rickettsia showed high abundance in the two species. Several maternally inherited bacteria such as Coxiella , Arsenophonus , Spiroplasma , Francisella and Rickettsiella , were abundant, and their relative abundance varied depending on tick species and sex, suggesting their biological roles in the two species. Conclusions The bacterial microbiomes of field-collected D. marginatus and D. reticulatus were shaped by tick phylogeny and sex. Maternally inherited bacteria were abundant in the two species. These findings are valuable for understanding tick-bacteria interactions, biology and vector competence of ticks. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3582-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Other examples include maternally inherited bacterial symbionts that are essential for ticks’ growth and survival to adulthood: the vertebrate blood ingested by ticks is limited in B vitamins, and symbionts supply these missing nutrients to them [31–33]. A deeper investigation of the biodiversity of the internal microbes of ticks is now ongoing, as shown by the increasing number of metagenomics studies using high-throughput sequencing [23, 34–36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ticks are especially prone to harboring external microbes since they can be contaminated either by the skin microbiome of their vertebrate hosts during blood-feeding and, when they are “off-host,” by environmental microbes from the soil or plants [26, 37]. For these reasons, sterilization methods are commonly employed before investigating internal microbiomes, but these methods differ greatly between studies: while most studies used ethanol solutions for this purpose [14, 23, 36], a few used sodium hypochlorite (bleach) solutions instead [38, 39]. Ethanol and bleach are both effective at killing microbes but only bleach will denature DNA [40, 41].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface sterilization methods impact measures of internal microbial diversity in ticks

et al. 2019

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Background Ticks are obligate blood feeders transmitting major pathogens worldwide. Over the past few years, considerable research efforts have focused on the diversity, distribution and impact of gut and intracellular bacterial symbionts on tick development and tick-borne pathogen transmission. The study of this internal microbiome requires the use of a sterilization method to remove external (i.e. cuticular) microbes present on the tick’s surface and to avoid any further contamination. Several sterilization methods exist, including ethanol- or bleach-based treatments that are both effective in killing microbes but with different potential effects on DNA denaturation. Methods We examined how these different sterilization methods impact the measure of internal microbial diversity hosted by the Cayenne tick Amblyomma cajennense ( sensu stricto ). Bacterial barcoding investigations based on 16S rRNA gene sequences were conducted on two batches of 50 individuals each: Ticks of the first batch were sterilized with bleach diluted at 1% and the second batch with 70% ethanol. Tick external microbiome was also determined from cuticle smearing and water samples used for tick washing. Results Bacterial barcoding investigations showed major differences between ethanol- and bleach-treated specimens. Both methods led to the detection of major intracellular bacteria associated with A. cajennense ( s.s. ) but ethanol-treated ticks always harbored a higher bacterial diversity than bleach-treated ticks. Further examinations of tick gut and tick external microbiome revealed that ethanol-based surface sterilization method is inefficient to eliminate the DNA of external bacteria. Conclusions We herein provide evidence that studies investigating the internal microbiome of ticks should consider bleach as the gold standard to efficiently remove cuticular bacterial DNA. Indeed, this method does not impact the internal bacterial diversity hosted by ticks and is thus a better method than the ethanol-based one for studying the internal microbiome. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3517-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Characterization of the bacterial microbiota in wild-caught Ixodes ventalloi

Cited by 26 publications

References 57 publications

General Microbiota of the Soft Tick Ornithodoros turicata Parasitizing the Bolson Tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus) in the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

General Microbiota of the Soft Tick Ornithodoros turicata Parasitizing the Bolson Tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus) in the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

The bacterial microbiome of field-collected Dermacentor marginatus and Dermacentor reticulatus from Slovakia

Surface sterilization methods impact measures of internal microbial diversity in ticks

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