Dataset Information

Evaluation of two artificial infection methods of live ticks as tools for studying interactions between tick-borne viruses and their tick vectors.

ABSTRACT: Up to 170 tick-borne viruses (TBVs) have been identified to date. However, there is a paucity of information regarding TBVs and their interaction with respective vectors, limiting the development of new effective and urgently needed control methods. To overcome this gap of knowledge, it is essential to reproduce transmission cycles under controlled laboratory conditions. In this study we assessed an artificial feeding system (AFS) and an immersion technique (IT) to infect Ixodes ricinus ticks with tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and Kemerovo (KEM) virus, both known to be transmitted predominantly by ixodid ticks. Both methods permitted TBEV acquisition by ticks and we further confirmed virus trans-stadial transmission and onward transmission to a vertebrate host. However, only artificial feeding system allowed to demonstrate both acquisition by ticks and trans-stadial transmission for KEMV. Yet we did not observe transmission of KEMV to mice (IFNAR^-/- or BALB/c). Artificial infection methods of ticks are important tools to study tick-virus interactions. When optimally used under laboratory settings, they provide important insights into tick-borne virus transmission cycles.

SUBMITTER: Migne CV

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8752753 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Evaluation of two artificial infection methods of live ticks as tools for studying interactions between tick-borne viruses and their tick vectors.

Migné Camille Victoire CV Hönig Vaclav V Bonnet Sarah Irène SI Palus Martin M Rakotobe Sabine S Galon Clémence C Heckmann Aurélie A Vyletova Eva E Devillers Elodie E Attoui Houssam H Ruzek Daniel D Moutailler Sara S

Scientific reports 20220111 1

Up to 170 tick-borne viruses (TBVs) have been identified to date. However, there is a paucity of information regarding TBVs and their interaction with respective vectors, limiting the development of new effective and urgently needed control methods. To overcome this gap of knowledge, it is essential to reproduce transmission cycles under controlled laboratory conditions. In this study we assessed an artificial feeding system (AFS) and an immersion technique (IT) to infect Ixodes ricinus ticks wi ...[more]

PMID: 35017574

Similar Datasets

Project description:Tick-borne zoonoses are emerging globally due to changes in climate and land use. While the zoonotic threats associated with ticks are well studied elsewhere, in Australia, the diversity of potentially zoonotic agents carried by ticks and their significance to human and animal health is not sufficiently understood. To this end, we used untargeted metatranscriptomics to audit the prokaryotic, eukaryotic and viral biomes of questing ticks and wildlife blood samples from two urban and rural sites in New South Wales, Australia. Ixodes holocyclus and Haemaphysalis bancrofti were the main tick species collected, and blood samples from Rattus rattus, Rattus fuscipes, Perameles nasuta and Trichosurus vulpecula were also collected and screened for tick-borne microorganisms using metatranscriptomics followed by conventional targeted PCR to identify important microbial taxa to the species level. Our analyses identified 32 unique tick-borne taxa, including 10 novel putative species. Overall, a wide range of tick-borne microorganisms were found in questing ticks including haemoprotozoa such as Babesia, Theileria, Hepatozoon and Trypanosoma spp., bacteria such as Borrelia, Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Neoehrlichia and Anaplasma spp., and numerous viral taxa including Reoviridiae (including two coltiviruses) and a novel Flaviviridae-like jingmenvirus. Of note, a novel hard tick-borne relapsing fever Borrelia sp. was identified in questing H. bancrofti ticks which is closely related to, but distinct from, cervid-associated Borrelia spp. found throughout Asia. Notably, all tick-borne microorganisms were phylogenetically unique compared to their relatives found outside Australia, and no foreign tick-borne human pathogens such as Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. or Babesia microti were found. This work adds to the growing literature demonstrating that Australian ticks harbour a unique and endemic microbial fauna, including potentially zoonotic agents which should be further studied to determine their relative risk to human and animal health.

Project description:BackgroundA subset of Australians who have been bitten by ticks experience a complex of chronic and debilitating symptoms which cannot be attributed to the known pathogenic species of bacteria present in Australia. As a result, there has been a renewed effort to identify and characterise viruses in Australian terrestrial ticks. Recent transcriptome sequencing of Ixodes and Amblyomma ticks has revealed the presence of multiple virus sequences. However, without virus isolates our ability to understand the host range and pathogenesis of newly identified viruses is limited. We have established a successful method for high-throughput virus discovery and isolation in mosquitoes using antibodies to double-stranded RNA. In this study we sought to characterise five archival tick-borne viruses to adapt our virus discovery protocol for Australian ticks.MethodsWe performed virus characterisation using a combination of bioinformatic sequence analysis and in vitro techniques including replication kinetics, antigenic profiling, virus purification and mass spectrometry.ResultsOur sequence analysis of Nugget virus, Catch-me-Cave virus and Finch Creek virus revealed marked genetic stability in isolates collected from the same location approximately 30 years apart. We demonstrate that the Ixodes scapularis-derived ISE6 cell line supports replication of Australian members of the Flaviviridae, Nairoviridae, Phenuiviridae and Reoviridae families, including Saumarez Reef virus (SREV), a flavivirus isolated from the soft tick Ornithodoros capensis. While antibodies against double-stranded RNA could be used to detect replication of a tick-borne reovirus and mosquito-borne flavivirus, the tick-borne flaviviruses Gadgets Gully virus and SREV could not be detected using this method. Finally, four novel virus-like sequences were identified in transcriptome sequencing of the Australian native tick Ixodes holocyclus.ConclusionsGenetic and antigenic characterisations of archival viruses in this study confirm that three viruses described in 2002 represent contemporary isolates of virus species first identified 30 years prior. Our findings with antibodies to double-stranded RNA highlight an unusual characteristic shared by two Australian tick-borne flaviviruses. Finally, comparative growth kinetics analyses of Australian tick-borne members of the Flaviviridae, Nairoviridae, Phenuiviridae and Reoviridae families in ISE6 and BSR cells will provide a useful resource for isolation of Australian tick-borne viruses using existing cell lines.

Project description:Ticks are blood-feeding arthropods and transmit a variety of medically important viral, bacterial, protozoan pathogens to animals and humans. Ticks also harbor a diverse community of microbes linked to their biological processes, such as hematophagy, and hence affect vector competence. The interactions between bacterial and/or protozoan pathogens and the tick microbiome is a black-box, and therefore we tested the hypothesis that the presence of a protozoan or bacterial pathogen will alter the microbial composition within a tick. Hence, this study was designed to define the microbial composition of two tick species, Hyalomma (H.) anatolicum and Rhipicephalus (R.) microplus. We used a combination of PCR based pathogen (Anaplasma marginale and Theileria species) and symbiont (Wolbachia species) identification followed by metagenomic sequencing and comparison of the microbial communities in PCR positive and negative ticks. A total of 1786 operational taxonomic units was identified representing 25 phyla, 50 classes, and 342 genera. The phylum Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteriota, and Bacteroidota were the most represented bacteria group. Alpha and beta diversity were not significantly affected in the presence or absence of Theileria sp. and A. marginale as see with H. anatolicum ticks. Interestingly, bacterial communities were significantly reduced in Theileria sp. infected R. microplus ticks, while also exhibiting a significant reduction in microbial richness and evenness. Putting these observations together, we referred to the effect the presence of Theileria sp. has on R. microplus a "pathogen-induced dysbiosis". We also identify the presence of Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of human malaria from the microbiome of both H. anatolicum and R. microplus ticks. These findings support the presence of a "pathogen-induced dysbiosis" within the tick and further validation experiments are required to investigate how they are important in the vector competence of ticks. Understanding the mechanism of "pathogen-induced dysbiosis" on tick microbial composition may aid the discovery of intervention strategies for the control of emerging tick-borne infections.

Project description:Ticks are efficient vectors of arboviruses, although less than 10% of tick species are known to be virus vectors. Most tick-borne viruses (TBV) are RNA viruses some of which cause serious diseases in humans and animals world-wide. Several TBV impacting human or domesticated animal health have been found to emerge or re-emerge recently. In order to survive in nature, TBV must infect and replicate in both vertebrate and tick cells, representing very different physiological environments. Information on molecular mechanisms that allow TBV to switch between infecting and replicating in tick and vertebrate cells is scarce. In general, ticks succeed in completing their blood meal thanks to a plethora of biologically active molecules in their saliva that counteract and modulate different arms of the host defense responses (haemostasis, inflammation, innate and acquired immunity, and wound healing). The transmission of TBV occurs primarily during tick feeding and is a complex process, known to be promoted by tick saliva constituents. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of TBV transmission are poorly understood. Immunomodulatory properties of tick saliva helping overcome the first line of defense to injury and early interactions at the tick-host skin interface appear to be essential in successful TBV transmission and infection of susceptible vertebrate hosts. The local host skin site of tick attachment, modulated by tick saliva, is an important focus of virus replication. Immunomodulation of the tick attachment site also promotes co-feeding transmission of viruses from infected to non-infected ticks in the absence of host viraemia (non-viraemic transmission). Future research should be aimed at identification of the key tick salivary molecules promoting virus transmission, and a molecular description of tick-host-virus interactions and of tick-mediated skin immunomodulation. Such insights will enable the rationale design of anti-tick vaccines that protect against disease caused by tick-borne viruses.

Project description:The purpose of this study is to analyse the role of risk perceptions and exposure for protective behaviour against tick bites and the related diseases Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), both of which are growing health concerns. We use data from a national survey in Sweden with respondents in geographical areas with substantial differences in both abundance of ticks and incidence of LB and TBE. We find that the share of respondents who frequently use protective clothing (64%), perform tick checks (63%) or avoid tall grass while in areas with ticks (48%) is relatively high. However, the use of protective measures is uneven and a considerably lower share tuck their trousers into their socks (18%), use repellent against ticks (16%) or use a combination of protective measures. Thirty-one per cent of the respondents report one or more tick bites in the last year and 68% report one or more lifetime tick bites, indicating that it is difficult to protect oneself from tick bites. There is a strong positive association between exposure and checking the skin for ticks, but exposure is only weakly associated with other protective measures. Tick bites are perceived as a serious health risk by as many as 43% of the respondents. The perception that a single tick bite is serious is negatively associated with actual exposure to ticks, while the opposite is true for the perception that tick bites constitute a serious lifetime health risk. This indicates a learning effect in relation to risk perceptions and the performance of tick checks, but not in relation to other protective measures. Recommendations include informing people of the risks associated with tick bites, the efficacy of various protective measures and the importance of combining multiple types of protection. Given the high exposure to tick bites, the growing incidence of TBE and LB, and the difficulties in preventing tick bites, other preventive measures should be further discussed, including vaccination programmes.

Dataset Information

Evaluation of two artificial infection methods of live ticks as tools for studying interactions between tick-borne viruses and their tick vectors.

Publications

Evaluation of two artificial infection methods of live ticks as tools for studying interactions between tick-borne viruses and their tick vectors.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets