Borrelia afzelii Infection in the Rodent Host Has Dramatic Effects on the Bacterial Microbiome of Ixodes ricinus Ticks.

ABSTRACT: The microbiome of blood-sucking arthropods can shape their competence to acquire and maintain infections with vector-borne pathogens. We used a controlled study to investigate the interactions between Borrelia afzelii, which causes Lyme borreliosis in Europe, and the bacterial microbiome of Ixodes ricinus, its primary tick vector. We applied a surface sterilization treatment to I. ricinus eggs to produce dysbiosed tick larvae that had a low bacterial abundance and a changed bacterial microbiome compared to those of the control larvae. Dysbiosed and control larvae fed on B. afzelii-infected mice and uninfected control mice, and the engorged larvae were left to molt into nymphs. The nymphs were tested for B. afzelii infection, and their bacterial microbiome underwent 16S rRNA amplicon

SUBMITTER: Hamilton PT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8388833 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature