Molecular evidence for a novel Coxiella from Argas monolakensis (Acari: Argasidae) from Mono Lake, California, USA

Abstract

Argasid ticks are vectors of viral and bacterial agents of humans and animals. Recent reports indicate that some ornithophilic argasids harbored rickettsial agents. A Nearctic tick, Argas monolakensis Schwan, Corwin, Brown is ornithophilic and has not previously been examined for rickettsial agents. Thirty adult A. monolakensis were tested by PCR for DNA from Rickettsia or Coxiella. Amplicons from a Coxiella sp. that were divergent from Coxiella burnetii were detected in 16/30 A. monolakensis. These molecular isolates were similar but not identical to C. burnetii, the Coxiella spp. of other ticks, and "Coxiella cheraxi" a pathogen of crayfish.

The tick Ixodes uriae (Acari: Ixodidae): Hosts, geographical distribution, and vector roles

“…In a recent study, Duron et al (2014) found molecular (Reeves, 2008), Ornithodoros capensis sensu lato group (Duron et al, 2014;Reeves et al, 2006;Wilkinson et al, 2014), O. rostratus (Almeida et al, 2012), Amblyomma americanum (Klyachko et al, 2007), A. cajennense (Machado-Ferreira et al, 2011) and A. loculosum (Wilkinson et al, 2014). However, all Coxiella strains found in these tick species are divergent from C. burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever, and may behave as endosymbionts (Duron et al, 2014).…”

Coxiella Detection in Ticks from Wildlife and Livestock in Malaysia

“…These endosymbionts have been found in a variety of ticks species, including Haemaphysalis (Lee et al 2004, Ahantarig et al 2011, Arthan et al 2015), Amblyomma (Klyachko et al 2007, Machado-Ferreira et al 2011), Rhipicephalus (Bernasconi et al 2002), Ixodes (Kurtti et al 2002), Ornithodoros (Almeida et al 2012, Duron et al 2014), and Argas (Reeves 2008). The most recent study based on multilocus sequence analysis of a few housekeeping genes demonstrated that all Coxiella strains cluster into four highly divergent clades, suggesting that C. burnetii evolved from a tick endosymbiont (Duron et al 2015).…”

Coinfection of Dermacentor silvarum Olenev (Acari: Ixodidae) by Coxiella-Like, Arsenophonus-Like, and Rickettsia-Like Symbionts

“…To date, various Coxiella-like microorganisms have been detected in both hard and soft ticks (21,32,33,34,35,36,37,38). Interestingly, Coxiella-like microorganisms exhibited diverse 16S rRNA genotypes from different tick species.…”