Abstract
The Tibetan tick Haemaphysalis tibetensis is widely distributed in the Tibetan Plateau, and is recognized as one of the primary parasites affecting domestic and wild animals. No information is available on its microbial diversity. In the current study, the microbiomes in H. tibetensis were explored using Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Results indicate that a total of 28 phyla and 38 genera were characterized from this tick, and most of the microbes were classified in the phylum Proteobacteria. Female and male H. tibetensis harbored similar composition of the microbes, with dominant bacteria from the genus Coxiella accounting for 87.5 and 66.5% in females and males, respectively. The abundance of bacteria belonging to the genus Rickettsia in females and males was 6.9 and 23.7%, respectively. These findings may help understand the relationship between this tick and its symbiontic microorganisms.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31272372, 31400342, 31672365), Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (No. 20131303130001), the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (C2015205124), and the Natural Science Research Programs of the Educational Department of Hebei Province (BJ2016032). We would like to thank Prof. Kenneth B. Storey and Rasha Al-attar from Carleton University, Canada for English editing.
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Yu, Z., Wang, R., Li, N. et al. Microbial diversity of the Tibetan tick Haemaphysalis tibetensis (Acari: Ixodidae). Exp Appl Acarol 73, 237–244 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-017-0179-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-017-0179-x