Unique microbial communities of parasitic fleas on wild animals from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Fleas, one of the most significant ectoparasites, play a crucial role as vectors in spreading zoonotic diseases globally. The Qinghai Province, as part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is one of the provinces in China with the largest number of flea species. In this study, we characterized the microbia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science and pollution research international 2024-06, Vol.31 (28), p.40916-40924
Main Authors: Guo, Wentao, Zhu, Wentao, Jia, Luo, Tao, Yuanqing
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Animals, Wild
Aquatic Pollution
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
China
Ctenophthalmidae
Discriminant analysis
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecotoxicology
Ectoparasites
Environment
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental Health
Genera
Leptopsyllidae
Microbial activity
Microbiomes
Microbiota
Microorganisms
Phylogeny
Pulicidae
Research Article
Siphonaptera
Siphonaptera - microbiology
Tibet
Vectors
Waste Water Technology
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
Wild animals
Zoonoses
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Summary:Fleas, one of the most significant ectoparasites, play a crucial role as vectors in spreading zoonotic diseases globally. The Qinghai Province, as part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is one of the provinces in China with the largest number of flea species. In this study, we characterized the microbial communities of eighty-five adult fleas, belonging to nineteen species within four families (Ceratophyllidae, Ctenophthalmidae, Leptopsyllidae, and Pulicidae). We identified a total of 1162 unique operational taxonomic units at the genus level, with flea-borne pathogens such as Wolbachia , Bartonella , Rickettsia being the members of top abundant taxa. Except for comparison between Ctenophthalmidae and Leptopsyllidae families, the analyses of both alpha- and beta- diversity indicators suggested that bacterial diversity varied among flea families. This could be attributed to flea phylogeny, which also influenced by their geographical sites and animal hosts. Results of Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) indicated that 29 genera in Ceratophylloidea, 11 genera in Ctenophthalmidae, 15 genera in Leptopsyllidae, and 22 genera in Pulicidae were significantly responsible for explaining the differences among the four flea families (linear discriminant analysis score > 2, P  
ISSN:1614-7499
0944-1344
1614-7499
DOI:10.1007/s11356-024-33885-8