Exploring the Individual Bacterial Microbiota of Questing Ixodes ricinus Nymphs

Ixodes ricinus is the most common hard tick species in Europe and an important vector of pathogens of human and animal health concerns. The rise of high-throughput sequencing has facilitated the identification of many tick-borne pathogens and, more globally, of various microbiota members depending o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microorganisms (Basel) 2021-07, Vol.9 (7), p.1526
Main Authors: Alafaci, Aurélien, Crépin, Alexandre, Beaubert, Sabine, Berjeaud, Jean-Marc, Delafont, Vincent, Verdon, Julien
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal biology
Animal health
Arachnids
Bacteria
Bacteriology
Borrelia
Borreliella
Ecology, environment
Gene expression
Infections
Invertebrate Zoology
Ixodes
Ixodes ricinus
Life Sciences
Lyme disease
metabarcoding
Microbiology and Parasitology
Microbiota
Microorganisms
Next-generation sequencing
Nymphs
Pathogens
questing ticks
Software
Symbiosis
Vector-borne diseases
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Summary:Ixodes ricinus is the most common hard tick species in Europe and an important vector of pathogens of human and animal health concerns. The rise of high-throughput sequencing has facilitated the identification of many tick-borne pathogens and, more globally, of various microbiota members depending on the scale of concern. In this study, we aimed to assess the bacterial diversity of individual I. ricinus questing nymphs collected in France using high-throughput 16S gene metabarcoding. From 180 dragging-collected nymphs, we identified more than 700 bacterial genera, of which about 20 are abundantly represented (>1% of total reads). Together with 136 other genera assigned, they constitute a core internal microbiota in this study. We also identified 20 individuals carrying Borreliella. The most abundant species is B. afzelii, known to be one of the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease in Europe. Co-detection of up to four Borreliella genospecies within the same individual has also been retrieved. The detection and co-detection rate of Borreliella in I. ricinus nymphs is high and raises the question of interactions between these bacteria and the communities constituting the internal microbiota.
ISSN:2076-2607
2076-2607
DOI:10.3390/microorganisms9071526