The microbiome of neotropical ticks parasitizing on passerine migratory birds

Abstract

Seasonal migration of passerine birds between temperate North America and tropical Central and South America is an ecological phenomenon. Migration of birds has been associated with the introduction of ectoparasites like ticks or tick-borne pathogens across the avian migration routes. In this study, the microbial diversity was determined in the ticks and bird DNA samples using 454 pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Tick DNA samples showed the dominance of genera Lactococcus, Francisella, Raoultella, Wolbachia and Rickettsia across all the ticks, but birds DNA did not share common microbial diversity with ticks. Furthermore, “Candidatus Rickettsia amblyommii” infection in the 91 ticks collected off the songbirds was also quantified by qPCR assay. Interestingly, “Candidatus R. amblyommii” was tested positive in 24 ticks (26% infection), and infection varied from as low as three copies to thousands of copies, but bird blood samples showed no amplification. Our results provide evidence that songbirds serve as transport carrier for immature ticks, and less likely to be a reservoir for “Candidatus R. amblyommii”.

Ixodes scapularis does not harbor a stable midgut microbiome

“…The genus Borrelia comprises a group of pathogenic bacteria that rely upon hematophagous arthropods for infectious transmission to humans, including ticks of the order Ixodida [6]. In hard ticks (Ixodidae), recent surveys of the internal microbiota have to-date identified bacteria that could potentially restrict pathogen transmission [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. However, significant variation in the diversity and identity of tick-associated bacteria was observed in these studiesrendering the potential for bacterial interference within ticks uncertain.…”

Laboratory colonization stabilizes the naturally dynamic microbiome composition of field collected Dermacentor andersoni ticks

“…Ticks, which are of medical-veterinary importance due to their vector capacity, are responsible for transmitting at least 14 known pathogens in the USA, with several new and emerging tick-borne pathogens recently identified [ 20 – 25 ]. To date, the bulk of tick microbiome research has focused on discovery and description, with few studies analyzing the ecology and fluctuations of the bacterial microbiome [ 14 , 26 – 29 ].…”

Molecular Characterization of Haemaphysalis Species and a Molecular Genetic Key for the Identification of Haemaphysalis of North America

“…However, subsequent investigations of archived specimens revealed that H. longicornis collected as early as 2010 had been previously misidentified as the native rabbit tick, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (5). With the introduction of H. longicornis, there are now four Haemaphysalis species known in North America: H. leporispalustris, found throughout the Americas and primarily infesting lagomorphs (23,24); Haemaphysalis juxtakochi ranging throughout the Neotropics with cervids or other larger mammals as primary hosts, though it has been found parasitizing migratory neotropical birds (25)(26)(27); and Haemaphysalis chordeilis, sporadically collected from avian species throughout the United States and Canada (28,29). These ticks all have wide and, in some places, overlapping distributions.…”