Co-Infection of Potential Tick-Borne Pathogens of the Order Rickettsiales and Borrelia burgdorferi s. l. and Their Link to Season and Area in Germany

Abstract

The prevalence of potential human pathogenic members of the order Rickettsiales differs between Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato-positive and -negative tick microbiomes. Here, co-infection of members of the order Rickettsiales, such as Rickettsia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Wolbachia pipientis, and Neoehrlichia mikurensis as well as B. burgdorferi s.l. in the tick microbiome was addressed. This study used conventional PCRs to investigate the diversity and prevalence of the before-mentioned bacteria in 760 nucleic acid extracts of I. ricinus ticks detached from humans, which were previously tested for B. burgdorferi s.l.. A gltA gene-based amplicon sequencing approach was performed to identify Rickettsia species. The prevalence of Rickettsia spp. (16.7%, n = 127) and W. pipientis (15.9%, n = 121) were similar, while A. phagocytophilum was found in 2.8% (n = 21) and N. mikurensis in 0.1% (n = 1) of all ticks. Co-infection of B. burgdorferi s. l. with Rickettsia spp. was most frequent. The gltA gene sequencing indicated that Rickettsia helvetica was the dominant Rickettsia species in tick microbiomes. Moreover, R, monacensis and R. raoultii were correlated with autumn and area south, respectively, and a negative B. burgdorferi s. l. finding. Almost every fifth tick carried DNA of at least two of the human pathogenic bacteria studied here.