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First molecular detection of Francisella-like endosymbionts in Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus tick species collected from vertebrate hosts from Sardinia island, Italy

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Abstract

Ticks are vectors of a wide variety of human and animal pathogens as well as non-pathogenic microorganisms acting as endosymbionts and whose role in ticks is still little known. Symbionts such as Francisella-like endosymbionts (FLEs) are members of Francisellaceae family with unknown pathogenicity, detected in both hard and soft ticks. A total of 236 ticks collected from several sites in Sardinia were screened for Francisella species by PCR using primers targeting a fragment of the 16S rRNA gene. DNA of Francisella was detected in 5.1% (12/236) of the ticks tested. Sequencing results revealed that seven Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l., three Hyalomma marginatum, one Hy. lusitanicum, and one Rh. bursa ticks exhibited DNA with 99–100% similarity to Francisella-like endosymbionts isolated from different tick species all over the world. Further research is needed in order to better characterize FLE strains obtained in Sardinia and to better understand if their presence could be related to the infection with other zoonotic pathogens.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Via Duca degli Abruzzi, 8, 07100, Sassari, Italy

    Valentina Chisu, Cipriano Foxi & Giovanna Masala

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  1. Valentina Chisu
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  2. Cipriano Foxi
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  3. Giovanna Masala
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Correspondence to Valentina Chisu.

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The Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All applicable international, national and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animal were followed. All procedures performed in studies involving human participant were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national ethic committee

Informed consent

A written informed consent was obtained from patients at the time of hospitalization. The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of Sardinia was authorized by the ethics committee of the Local Health Authority of Sassari (Comitato di Bioetica, ASL N. 1, Sassari) Prot N. 1136, to analysed human samples following the request of the National Health Service doctors, since 03/26/2013.

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Chisu, V., Foxi, C. & Masala, G. First molecular detection of Francisella-like endosymbionts in Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus tick species collected from vertebrate hosts from Sardinia island, Italy. Exp Appl Acarol 79, 245–254 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-019-00427-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-019-00427-8

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