Orientia, Rickettsia, and the microbiome in rodent attached chiggers in North Carolina, USA.

ABSTRACT: Chiggers are larval mites that pose a significant health risk globally via the spread of scrub typhus. However, fundamental studies into the bacterial microbiome in North America have never been considered. In this investigation, chiggers were collected in the wild from two locally common rodent host species (i.e., Sigmodon hispidus and Peromyscus leucopus) in three different ecoregions of North Carolina (NC), United States to investigate the composition of their bacterial communities, including potential pathogens. DNA was extracted from the chiggers, and the V3-V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene were sequenced using next-generation sequencing (NGS). Alpha diversity metrics revealed significant differences in bacterial diversity among different collection counties. Beta diversity m

SUBMITTER: Richardson EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11620566 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature