Tick microbiome and pathogen acquisition altered by host blood meal

Abstract

Lyme disease, a zoonotic disease, is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere. Diversity of the vector (tick) microbiome can impact pathogen transmission, yet the biotic and abiotic factors that drive microbiome diversity are largely unresolved, especially under natural, field conditions. We describe the microbiome of Ixodes pacificus ticks, the vector for Lyme disease in the western United States, and show a strong impact of host blood meal identity on tick microbiome species richness and composition. Western fence lizards, a host that is refractory to the Lyme disease pathogen, significantly reduces microbiome diversity in ticks relative to ticks that feed on a mammalian reservoir host. Host blood meal-driven reduction of tick microbiome diversity may have lifelong repercussions on I. pacificus vector competency and ultimately disease dynamics.

Effects of temperature on bacterial microbiome composition in Ixodes scapularis ticks

“…In addition, they carry numerous endosymbionts and commensals, which may provide nutrient supplements to the tick and also affect vector competence (reviewed in (Narasimhan & Fikrig, ; Bonnet et al., ; Clay & Fuqua, )). Studies have reported that the tick microbial community is variable depending on several factors such as source of host blood meal (Rynkiewicz, Hemmerich, Rusch, Fuqua, & Clay, ), feeding status (Menchaca et al., ; Swei & Kwan, ; Zhang et al., ), tick species, life stage, gender, and geographical origin (Carpi et al., ; Van Treuren et al., ; Williams‐Newkirk, Rowe, Mixson‐Hayden, & Dasch, ). However, very few studies have focused on the tick microbiome differences based on environmental conditions such as seasons of collection (Lalzar, Harrus, Mumcuoglu, & Gottlieb, ) or the immediate environment (Menchaca et al., ).…”

Human pathogen co-occurrence in Ixodes ricinus ticks: effects of landscape topography, climatic factors and microbiota interactions

“…Microclimatic conditions may affect microbial occurrence directly, or indirectly via affecting tick behavior or host community composition [86, 87]. Furthermore, topography can affect population connectivity and dispersal in metapopulation networks [88].…”

Bacterial community profiling highlights complex diversity and novel organisms in wildlife ticks

“…The analysis of ticks removed from wildlife hosts comes with the inherent complication of a blood meal. The host blood meal has recently been shown to affect both the tick microbiome composition and the presence of pathogens (Landesman et al, 2019;Swei and Kwan, 2017).…”