Diversity of the bacterial and viral communities in the tropical horse tick,Dermacentor nitensin Colombia

Abstract

AbstractTicks are obligatory hematophagous ectoparasites that transmit pathogens among various vertebrates, including humans. The composition of the microbial and viral communities in addition to the pathogenic microorganisms is highly diverse in ticks, but the factors driving the diversity are not well understood. The tropical horse tick,Dermacentor nitens, is distributed throughout the Americas and it is recognized as a natural vector ofBabesia caballiandTheileria equi, the causal agents of equine piroplasmosis. We characterized the bacterial and viral communities associated with partially-fedD. nitensfemales collected by a passive survey on horses from field sites representing three distinct geographical areas in Colombia (Bolivar, Antioquia, and Cordoba). RNA-seq and sequencing of the V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene were performed using the Illumina-Miseq platform. A total of 356 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified, in which the presumed endosymbiotic Francisellaceae/Francisellaspp. was predominantly found. Nine contigs corresponding to six different viruses were identified in three viral families: Chuviridae, Rhabdoviridae, and Flaviviridae. Differences in the relative abundance of the microbial composition among the geographical regions were found to be independent of the presence ofFrancisella-Like Endosymbiont (FLE). The most prevalent bacteria found on each region wereCorynebacteriumin Bolivar,Staphylococcusin Antioquia, andPseudomonasin Cordoba.Rickettsia-like endosymbionts, mainly recognized as the etiological agent of rickettsioses in Colombia were detected in the Cordoba samples. Metatranscriptomics revealed 13 contigs containing FLE genes, suggesting a trend of regional differences. These findings suggest regional distinctions among the ticks and their bacterial compositions.