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

Abstract

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.

The Prevalence of Coxiella burnetii in Hard Ticks in Europe and Their Role in Q Fever Transmission Revisited—A Systematic Review

“…Some authors considered CLE and searched specifically for these endosymbionts or detected CLE by sequencing positive PCR products. Furthermore, sequencing of 16S rRNA was used to evaluate the tick microbiome ( 99 , 103 ). In seven studies, CLEs were detected additionally or exclusively using sequencing in a variety of tick species, or Coxiella was only identified on genus level ( 99 , 102 , 103 , 110 , 119 , 122 ).…”

“…Furthermore, sequencing of 16S rRNA was used to evaluate the tick microbiome (99,103). In seven studies, CLEs were detected additionally or exclusively using sequencing in a variety of tick species, or Coxiella was only identified on genus level (99,102,103,110,119,122). Nine tick species were found to harbor CLE in these studies.…”

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

“…Currently, Proteobacteria is the broadest phylum in the Bacteria domain [ 37 ]. Some of the tick species that have shown dominance of this phylum in their microbiota are Argas japonicus in China (42–97%) [ 38 ], Hyalomma dromedarii in Saudi Arabia (98%) [ 39 ], Dermacentor marginatus and D. reticulatus in Slovakia (60%) [ 40 ], D. marginatus (97%), Haemaphysalis punctata (98%), Ixodes ricinus (88%), and Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (99%) in Spain [ 41 ], and I. scapularis in Massachusetts and Texas, USA (73–100%; [ 8 ]).…”

Sequence identification and expression profile of seven Dermacentor marginatus glutathione S-transferase genes

“…Ticks are obligate hematophagous ectoparasites of great medical and veterinary importance (de la Fuente 2018 ). As one of the hard ticks adapted to colder regions, Dermacentor marginatus (Sulzer) is a widespread tick species over northern Eurasian (Zhang et al 2019 ), which carries and transmits a variety of tick-borne pathogens to livestock and human, such as Babesia (Hilpertshauser et al 2006 ), Theileria (Chisu et al 2019 ), Anaplasma (Song et al 2018 ), Rickettsia (Li et al 2019 ), Coxiella (Bonnet et al 2013 ), Brucella (Wang et al 2018 ), Borrelia burgdorferi (Chrudimska et al 2014 ) and Orthonairovirus (Liu et al 2019 ). Due to the medical importance, D. marginatus— as many other tick species — has become an emerging threat to the livestock and public health, which needs control measures to mitigate.…”