Molecular survey on zoonotic tick-borne bacteria and chlamydiae in feral pigeons ( Columba livia domestica )

Ebani, Valentina Virginia; Bertelloni, Fabrizio; Mani, Paolo

doi:10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.03.005

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…On the basis of previous epidemiological studies in mammals and data relative to human infections, F. tularensis seems to not be largely present in Italy (Pascucci et al, 2015; Ebani et al, 2016, 2017; Graziani et al, 2016; Rocchigiani et al, 2018), thus the negative results of the tested waterfowl could reflect the true epidemiological status. F. tularensis has been proven to be able to infect different avian species, thus birds could be cause of infection for humans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Even though domestic ruminants are considered as the main reservoirs for this pathogen , several wild mammals have been found to be hosts of this microorganism. C. burnetii has been found in birds (Babudieri and Moscovici, 1952; Stein and Raoult, 1999; Ebani et al, 2016), too, but little is known about the transmission patterns among avian populations. Animals as well as humans usually become infected through oral and inhalation routes, but the transmission of C. burnetii is also possible via tick bites (Porter et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular survey on the occurrence of avian haemosporidia, Coxiella burnetii and Francisella tularensis in waterfowl from central Italy

Ebani

Nardoni

Giani

et al. 2019

International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

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The aim of the present study was to evaluate the occurrence of some avian Haemosporidia, Coxiella burnetii and Francisella tularensis in waterfowl from Tuscany wetlands. One-hundred and thirty-three samples of spleen were collected from regularly hunted wild birds belonging to 13 different waterfowl species. DNA extracted from each sample was submitted to PCR assays and sequencing to detect the pathogens. Thirty-three samples (24.81%) were positive with PCR for at least one pathogen: 23 (17.29%) for Leucocytozoon spp., 6 (4.51%) for Plasmodium spp., 4 (3%) for C. burnetii , 2 (1.5%) for Haemoproteus spp. No specific F. tularensis amplifications (0%) were detected. To the best of our knowledge, this study firstly reports data about haemosporidian and C. burnetii infections in waterfowl from Italy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular survey on the occurrence of avian haemosporidia, Coxiella burnetii and Francisella tularensis in waterfowl from central Italy

Ebani

Nardoni

Giani

et al. 2019

International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

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“…One library each was created from extraction buffer (ALT), millipore 57 water, microscope swabs, pipette swabs, and swabs of other equipment (pincettes, 58 scalpels, benches, etc). These five libraries were processed and sequenced separately 59 from the other samples, but by using identical procedures. 60 Library preparation and sequencing.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Bartonella are gram-negative Bacteria that are typically transmitted by blood 240 sucking arthropods, and are infectious in mammalian hosts [56][57][58]. There are also 241 reports on Bartonella incidence in birds [59,60], and it is conceivable that the Bacteria 242 originate from the birds, rather than from the mites. That would suggest that the host 243 range for Bartonella spp.…”

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Microbial composition of enigmatic bird parasites:WolbachiaandSpiroplasmaare the most important bacterial associates of quill mites (Acari: Syringophilidae)

Glowska

Filutowska

Dabert

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Background The microbiome is an integral component of many animal species, potentially affecting behaviour, physiology, and other biological properties. Despite this importance, bacterial communities remain vastly understudied in many groups of invertebrates, including mites. Quill mites (Acariformes: Syringophilidae) are a poorly known group of permanent bird ectoparasites that occupy quills of feathers and feed on bird subcutaneous tissue and fluids. Most of the known species have strongly female biased sex ratio and it was hypothesized that this is caused by endosymbiotic bacteria.Their peculiar lifestyle further makes them potential vectors for bird diseases.Previously, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and a high diversity of Wolbachia strains were detected in quill mites via targeted PCR screens. Here, we use an unbiased 16S amplicon sequencing approach to determine other Bacteria that potentially impact quill mite biology. ResultsWe performed 16S V4 amplicon sequencing of 126 quill mite individuals from eleven species parasitizing twelve bird species (four families) of passeriform birds. In addition to Wolbachia, we found Spiroplasma as potential symbiont of quill mites.Interestingly, consistently high Spiroplasma titres were only found in individuals of two mite species associated with finches of the genus Carduelis, suggesting a history of horizontal transfers of Spiroplasma via the bird host. Furthermore, there was evidence for Spiroplasma negatively affecting Wolbachia titres. We found no evidence for the previously reported Anaplasma in quill mites, but detected the potential pathogensBrucella and Bartonella at low abundances. Other amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) could be assigned to a diverse number of bacterial taxa, including several that were 1/17 previously isolated from bird skin. We observed a relatively uniform distribution of these ASVs across mite taxa and bird hosts, i.e, there was a lack of host-specificity for most detected ASVs. Further, many frequently found ASVs were assigned to taxa that show a very broad distribution with no strong prior evidence for symbiotic association with animals. We interpret these findings as evidence for a scarcity or lack of resident microbial associates (other than inherited symbionts) in quill mites, or for abundances of these taxa below our detection threshold.Hi-Q TM View OT2 Kit with regard to manufacturer's instructions. Sequencing of the 66 templated ISPs was conducted on the Ion 318 TM Chip with the use of Ion PGM TM 67 Hi-Q TM View Sequencing Kit and Ion PGM system (Ion Torrent, Thermo Fisher

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Microbial composition of enigmatic bird parasites:WolbachiaandSpiroplasmaare the most important bacterial associates of quill mites (Acariformes: Syringophilidae)

et al. 2020

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BackgroundThe microbiome is an integral component of many animal species, potentially affecting behavior, physiology, and other biological properties. Despite this importance, bacterial communities remain vastly understudied in many groups of invertebrates, including mites. Quill mites (Acariformes: Syringophilidae) are a poorly known group of permanent bird ectoparasites that occupy quills of feathers and feed on bird subcutaneous tissue and fluids. Most of the known species have strongly female‐biased sex ratio, and it was hypothesized that this is caused by endosymbiotic bacteria. Previously, Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Foggie) and a high diversity of Wolbachia strains were detected in quill mites via targeted PCR screens. Here, we use an unbiased 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing approach to determine other bacteria that potentially impact quill mite biology.ResultsWe performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of 126 quill mite individuals from eleven species parasitizing twelve species (four families) of passeriform birds. In addition to Wolbachia, we found Spiroplasma as potential symbiont of quill mites. Consistently, high Spiroplasma titers were only found in individuals of two mite species associated with finches of the genus Carduelis, suggesting a history of horizontal transfers of Spiroplasma via the bird host. Furthermore, there was evidence for Spiroplasma negatively affecting Wolbachia titers. We found no evidence for the previously reported Anaplasma in quill mites, but detected sequences of high similarity to the potential pathogens Brucella and Bartonella at low abundances. Other amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) could be assigned to a diverse number of bacterial taxa, including several that were previously isolated from bird skin. Further, many frequently found ASVs were assigned to taxa that show a very broad distribution with no strong prior evidence for symbiotic association with animals. We interpret these findings as evidence for a scarcity of resident microbial associates (other than inherited symbionts) in quill mites.

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Molecular survey on zoonotic tick-borne bacteria and chlamydiae in feral pigeons ( Columba livia domestica )

Abstract: Feral pigeons living in urban and periurban areas are a hazard for the human health as source of several pathogens. The obtained results confirm pigeons as reservoirs of chlamydial agents and suggest that they may be involved in the epidemiology of zoonotic tick-borne infections too.

Cited by 20 publications

References 30 publications

Molecular survey on the occurrence of avian haemosporidia, Coxiella burnetii and Francisella tularensis in waterfowl from central Italy

Molecular survey on the occurrence of avian haemosporidia, Coxiella burnetii and Francisella tularensis in waterfowl from central Italy

Microbial composition of enigmatic bird parasites:WolbachiaandSpiroplasmaare the most important bacterial associates of quill mites (Acari: Syringophilidae)

Microbial composition of enigmatic bird parasites:WolbachiaandSpiroplasmaare the most important bacterial associates of quill mites (Acariformes: Syringophilidae)

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