A Rickettsiella Endosymbiont Is a Potential Source of Essential B-Vitamins for the Poultry Red Mite, Dermanyssus gallinae.

ABSTRACT: Many obligate blood-sucking arthropods rely on symbiotic bacteria to provision essential B vitamins that are either missing or at sub-optimal levels in their nutritionally challenging blood diet. The poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae, an obligate blood-feeding ectoparasite, is a serious threat to the hen egg industry. Poultry red mite infestation has a major impact on hen health and welfare and causes a significant reduction in both egg quality and production. Thus far, the identity and biological role of nutrient provisioning bacterial mutualists from D. gallinae are little understood. Here, we demonstrate that an obligate intracellular bacterium of the Rickettsiella genus is detected in D. gallinae mites collected from 63 sites (from 15 countries) across E

SUBMITTER: Price DRG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8446615 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature