Infection with Borrelia afzelii and manipulation of the egg surface microbiota have no effect on the fitness of immature Ixodes ricinus ticks.

ABSTRACT: Arthropod vectors carry vector-borne pathogens that cause infectious disease in vertebrate hosts, and arthropod-associated microbiota, which consists of non-pathogenic microorganisms. Vector-borne pathogens and the microbiota can both influence the fitness of their arthropod vectors, and hence the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases. The bacterium Borrelia afzelii, which causes Lyme borreliosis in Europe, is transmitted among vertebrate reservoir hosts by Ixodes ricinus ticks, which also harbour a diverse microbiota of non-pathogenic bacteria. The purpose of this controlled study was to test whether B. afzelii and the tick-associated microbiota influence the fitness of I. ricinus. Eggs obtained from field-collected adult female ticks were surface sterilized (with bleach and ethanol), whi

SUBMITTER: Hurry G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8140075 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature