Microbial community of Hyalomma lusitanicum is dominated by Francisella-like endosymbiont

Sandra Díaz-Sánchez; Alberto Moraga Fernández; Miguel A Habela; Rafael Calero-Bernal; Isabel G Fernández de Mera; José de la Fuente

doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101624

Microbial community of Hyalomma lusitanicum is dominated by Francisella-like endosymbiont

Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2021 Mar;12(2):101624. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101624. Epub 2020 Dec 14.

Authors

Sandra Díaz-Sánchez¹, Alberto Moraga Fernández², Miguel A Habela³, Rafael Calero-Bernal⁴, Isabel G Fernández de Mera², José de la Fuente⁵

Affiliations

¹ SaBio. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain. Electronic address: sandra.dsan@gmail.com.
² SaBio. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain.
³ SALUVET, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Complutense University of Madrid, Avenida Complutense s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
⁴ Animal Health Department, University of Extremadura, Avda. Universidad s/n, 10071, Cáceres, Spain; SALUVET, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Complutense University of Madrid, Avenida Complutense s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
⁵ SaBio. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain; Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.

PMID: 33418339
DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101624

Abstract

Exploring tick associations with complex microbial communities and single-microbial partners, especially intracellular symbionts, has become crucial to understand tick biology. Of particular interest are the underlying interactions with biological consequences i.e. tick fitness, vector competence. In this study, we first sequenced the 16S rRNA bacterial phylogenetic marker in adult male ticks of Hyalomma lusitanicum collected from 5 locations in the province of Cáceres to explore the composition of its microbial community. Overall, 16S rRNA sequencing results demonstrated that the microbial community of H. lusitanicum is mostly dominated by Francisella-like endosymbionts (FLEs) (ranging from 52% to 99% of relative abundance) suggesting it is a key taxon within the microbial community and likely a primary endosymbiont. However, further research is required to explore the mechanisms underlying the interaction between FLEs and H. lusitanicum.

Keywords: Francisella-like endosymbiont; Hyalomma; Microbiota.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Francisella / physiology*
Ixodidae / microbiology*
Microbiota*
RNA, Bacterial / analysis
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / analysis
Spain
Symbiosis*

Substances

RNA, Bacterial
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S