<p><strong>The bacterial microbiome of <em>Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus</em> ticks (Acari: Ixodidae)</strong></p>

Despite the role of ticks in many infectious diseases, studies on the diversity of bacteria in tick species are limited. There have not been any scientific articles available that explore the bacterial microbiota associated with Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (Say) ticks in India. In this stud...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Manathottathil Aiswarya, Pookadavath Poornima, Razool Sheik Mohammed Shamsudeen, Ullatil Meethal Sheeja, Prakasan Koyyan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Acarological Society of Iran 2025-06-01
Series:Persian Journal of Acarology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.biotaxa.org/pja/article/view/86579
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Despite the role of ticks in many infectious diseases, studies on the diversity of bacteria in tick species are limited. There have not been any scientific articles available that explore the bacterial microbiota associated with Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (Say) ticks in India. In this study, we attempted to gather elaborate data on the bacterial fauna associated with R. annulatus through conventional culturable and culture-independent (Next Generation Sequencing —NGS) methods. Two locations of zoonotic significance within the Western Ghats region were selected. Tick samples were obtained from grazing cows (Bos indicus) from June 2023 to September 2023. The conventional culturable method revealed three phyla and the NGS exposed 19 phyla. The culturable method reported Actinobacteria as the abundant phyla (57.14%), followed by  Proteobacteria (28.57%) and Firmicutes (14.28%). According to the NGS data, phylum Firmicutes (35.81%) was the most abundant phylum with differences at 95% confidence intervals. The study obtained a total of eight bacterial genera of pathogenic potential. Given the medical importance of the identified bacterial strains in Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI), this study highlights the need for further research on tick-associated microbiomes.
ISSN:2251-8169