Molecular screening for Midichloria bacteria in hard and soft ticks (Acari: Ixodida).
Ticks can harbor complex and highly variable microbial communities. Among these microorganisms, there are important pathogens of humans and animals that can be transmitted through the blood meal. Less is known about the other members of the microbial community of Ixodida, those that do not cause ove...
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doaj-00d18c60e034435ca4197e0a661dbcac2020-11-25T03:52:12ZengUniversità degli Studi di MilanoInternational Journal of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety2283-39272016-06-0131s10.13130/2283-3927/70236267Molecular screening for Midichloria bacteria in hard and soft ticks (Acari: Ixodida).Alessandra CafisoValentina SerraOlivier PlantardChiara BazzocchiTicks can harbor complex and highly variable microbial communities. Among these microorganisms, there are important pathogens of humans and animals that can be transmitted through the blood meal. Less is known about the other members of the microbial community of Ixodida, those that do not cause overt diseases. Among these, Midichloria mitochondrii, symbiont of the tick Ixodes ricinus, is the first described member of the family Midichloriaceae, order Rickettsiales. This bacterium is present in 100% females and is vertically transmitted (Sassera, 2008). The possibility of horizontal transmission is suggested by serological and molecular analyses showing positivity of mammalian blood and sera to M. mitochondrii (Mariconti, 2012; Bazzocchi, 2013). However, its role is still unknown. Recent reports are expanding the view of this family, now including bacteria of great biological and medical interest, indicating a widespread distribution with an increasing range of hosts, with ticks being strongly represented (Epis, 2008). Here we present a molecular screening of 17 tick species (for a total of 92 individuals), detecting and quantifying bacteria closely related to M. mitochondrii in seven of them, including the first report of a midichloriacea in a soft tick species, Ornithodoros maritimus. Based on sequence identity and phylogenetic analysis we propose that these bacteria could constitute the genus Midichloria. The performed screening highlights different prevalence levels in different tick species including one, Ixodes aulacodi, where the bacteria is present in all examined individuals, like in I. ricinus. This result prompts us to hypothesize different roles of Midichloria bacteria in different tick species.http://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/haf/article/view/7023Midichloria spp., symbiosis, hard ticks, soft ticks |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Alessandra Cafiso Valentina Serra Olivier Plantard Chiara Bazzocchi |
spellingShingle |
Alessandra Cafiso Valentina Serra Olivier Plantard Chiara Bazzocchi Molecular screening for Midichloria bacteria in hard and soft ticks (Acari: Ixodida). International Journal of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety Midichloria spp., symbiosis, hard ticks, soft ticks |
author_facet |
Alessandra Cafiso Valentina Serra Olivier Plantard Chiara Bazzocchi |
author_sort |
Alessandra Cafiso |
title |
Molecular screening for Midichloria bacteria in hard and soft ticks (Acari: Ixodida). |
title_short |
Molecular screening for Midichloria bacteria in hard and soft ticks (Acari: Ixodida). |
title_full |
Molecular screening for Midichloria bacteria in hard and soft ticks (Acari: Ixodida). |
title_fullStr |
Molecular screening for Midichloria bacteria in hard and soft ticks (Acari: Ixodida). |
title_full_unstemmed |
Molecular screening for Midichloria bacteria in hard and soft ticks (Acari: Ixodida). |
title_sort |
molecular screening for midichloria bacteria in hard and soft ticks (acari: ixodida). |
publisher |
Università degli Studi di Milano |
series |
International Journal of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety |
issn |
2283-3927 |
publishDate |
2016-06-01 |
description |
Ticks can harbor complex and highly variable microbial communities. Among these microorganisms,
there are important pathogens of humans and animals that can be transmitted through the blood meal.
Less is known about the other members of the microbial community of Ixodida, those that do not cause
overt diseases. Among these, Midichloria mitochondrii, symbiont of the tick Ixodes ricinus, is the first
described member of the family Midichloriaceae, order Rickettsiales. This bacterium is present in 100%
females and is vertically transmitted (Sassera, 2008). The possibility of horizontal transmission is
suggested by serological and molecular analyses showing positivity of mammalian blood and sera to M.
mitochondrii (Mariconti, 2012; Bazzocchi, 2013). However, its role is still unknown. Recent reports are
expanding the view of this family, now including bacteria of great biological and medical interest,
indicating a widespread distribution with an increasing range of hosts, with ticks being strongly
represented (Epis, 2008).
Here we present a molecular screening of 17 tick species (for a total of 92 individuals), detecting and
quantifying bacteria closely related to M. mitochondrii in seven of them, including the first report of a
midichloriacea in a soft tick species, Ornithodoros maritimus. Based on sequence identity and
phylogenetic analysis we propose that these bacteria could constitute the genus Midichloria. The
performed screening highlights different prevalence levels in different tick species including one, Ixodes
aulacodi, where the bacteria is present in all examined individuals, like in I. ricinus. This result prompts
us to hypothesize different roles of Midichloria bacteria in different tick species. |
topic |
Midichloria spp., symbiosis, hard ticks, soft ticks |
url |
http://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/haf/article/view/7023 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT alessandracafiso molecularscreeningformidichloriabacteriainhardandsoftticksacariixodida AT valentinaserra molecularscreeningformidichloriabacteriainhardandsoftticksacariixodida AT olivierplantard molecularscreeningformidichloriabacteriainhardandsoftticksacariixodida AT chiarabazzocchi molecularscreeningformidichloriabacteriainhardandsoftticksacariixodida |
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