Microbial diversity in the tick Argas japonicus (Acari: Argasidae) with a focus on Rickettsia pathogens

Abstract

The soft tick Argas japonicus mainly infests birds and can cause human dermatitis; however, no pathogen has been identified from this tick species in China. In the present study, the microbiota in A. japonicus collected from an epidemic community was explored, and some putative Rickettsia pathogens were further characterized. The results obtained indicated that bacteria in A. japonicus were mainly ascribed to the phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. At the genus level, the male A. japonicus harboured more diverse bacteria than the females and nymphs. The bacteria Alcaligenes, Pseudomonas, Rickettsia and Staphylococcus were common in nymphs and adults. The abundance of bacteria belonging to the Rickettsia genus in females and males was 7.27% and 10.42%, respectively. Furthermore, the 16S rRNA gene of Rickettsia was amplified and sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis revealed that 13 sequences were clustered with the spotted fever group rickettsiae (Rickettsia heilongjiangensis and Rickettsia japonica) and three were clustered with Rickettsia limoniae, which suggested that the characterized Rickettsia in A. japonicus were novel putative pathogens and also that the residents were at considerable risk for infection by tick‐borne pathogens.

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]).…”

Two novel Rickettsia species of soft ticks in North Africa: ‘Candidatus Rickettsia africaseptentrionalis’ and ‘Candidatus Rickettsia mauretanica’

“…While only a few Rickettsia species have been reported from soft ticks (Duh et al, 2010;Duron et al, 2018;Hornok et al, 2019;Milhano et al, 2014;Moreira-Soto et al, 2017;Sánchez-Montes et al, 2016;Tahir et al, 2016;Yan et al, 2019), in this study we identified two novel Rickettsia species in soft tick Ornithodoros species from North Africa. The MLST of four gene fragments fulfills the criteria usually used to designate new Rickettsia species (e.g.…”

“…and Ornithodoros spp., but also the R. wissemanii, R. nicoyana, R. lusitianiae and undetermined species, which are known only from a few Ornithodoros and Argas species (Duh et al, 2010;Duron et al, 2018;Hornok et al, 2019;Milhano et al, 2014;Moreira-Soto et al, 2017;Sánchez-Montes et al, 2016;Tahir et al, 2016;Yan et al, 2019).…”

Changes in Bacterial Diversity, Composition and Interactions During the Development of the Seabird Tick Ornithodoros maritimus (Argasidae)

“…To date, few NGS studies have investigated the bacterial microbiota associated with soft tick species [18][19][20], and, to our knowledge, the present work constitutes the first NGS study of bacterial microbiota in Ornithodoros maritimus. The results reveal some similarities to the microbiota of hard tick species.…”

“…among microbiota and between host and microbiota) may provide tools for the control of tick-borne diseases [15,16]. Although relatively few NGS studies have examined tick microbiomes to date, most of these focus on bacterial communities sheltered by hard ticks (family: Ixodidae) [7,16,17], and little is known about these communities in soft ticks (family: Argasidae) [18][19][20]. These NGS studies have shown that tick microbiota include a remarkable diversity of endosymbiotic, commensal and pathogenic bacteria.…”