Detection of Borrelia miyamotoi in Ixodes nipponensis in Korea

This study investigated Borrelia species prevalence in ticks from vegetation, through a molecular method, in Gwangju Metropolitan City, South Korea. A total of 484 ticks were collected through flagging and dragging in a suburban area of Gwangju Metropolitan City, South Korea, in 2014. These ticks we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2019-07, Vol.14 (7), p.e0220465-e0220465
Main Authors: Kim, Choon Mee, Seo, Ji Won, Kim, Dong Min, Yun, Na Ra, Park, Jung Wook, Chung, Jae Keun, Song, Hyun Jae
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Arachnids
Biology and Life Sciences
Borrelia
Borrelia - genetics
Borrelia - isolation & purification
Borrelia infections
Computer and Information Sciences
CTP synthase
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Disease transmission
DNA
DNA, Bacterial - analysis
Environmental aspects
Fever
Flagellin
Genes
Genetic analysis
Hard ticks
Identification
Infectious diseases
Internal medicine
Ixodes - physiology
Ixodes nipponensis
Lyme disease
Medicine
Medicine and Health Sciences
Morphology
OspA protein
Outer surface protein A
Phylogeny
Protein A
Republic of Korea
Research and Analysis Methods
Risk factors
rRNA 16S
Species
Suburban areas
Surface protein A
Tick Infestations - microbiology
Ticks
Ticks - physiology
Vectors (Biology)
Zoonoses
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Summary:This study investigated Borrelia species prevalence in ticks from vegetation, through a molecular method, in Gwangju Metropolitan City, South Korea. A total of 484 ticks were collected through flagging and dragging in a suburban area of Gwangju Metropolitan City, South Korea, in 2014. These ticks were morphologically identified and subjected to nested PCR, targeting Borrelia-specific CTP synthase (pyrG), outer surface protein A (ospA) and flagellin (flaB) genes. Molecular biological species identification of Borrelia-positive ticks was conducted via 16S rRNA PCR assays. Of the 484 ticks collected, 417 (86.2%) were identified as Haemaphysalis longicornis, 42 (8.7%) as H. flava, and 25 (5.2%) as Ixodes nipponensis. All the ixodid ticks containing Borrelia species bacteria were confirmed to be I. nipponensis adults, by both morphological and molecular methods. Of the 25 I. nipponensis ticks collected, four (16%) were positive for Borrelia species, three of which were B. afzelii and one B. miyamotoi. Our study has shown the harboring of B. miyamotoi by I. nipponensis in South Korea. Morphological and molecular genetic analyses revealed that, in South Korea, I. nipponensis could potentially transmit B. miyamotoi to humans.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0220465