Bacterial microbiomes of Ixodes scapularis ticks collected from Massachusetts and Texas, USA.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the primary vector of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi in North America. Though the tick is found across the eastern United States, Lyme disease is endemic to the northeast and upper midwest and rare or absent in the southern portion of the vector's range. In an effort to better understand the tick microbiome from diverse geographic and climatic regions, we analysed the bacterial community of 115 I. scapularis adults collected from vegetation in Texas and Massachusetts, representing extreme ends of the vector's range, by massively parallel sequencing of the 16S V4 rRNA gene. In addition, 7 female I. scapularis collected from dogs in Texas were included in the study.

Results

Male I. scapularis ticks had a

SUBMITTER: Thapa S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6591839 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature