Abstract
The distribution of human Lyme borreliosis (LB) is assumed random in Germany, indicating that the human pathogenic species of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex (Bb) are similarly distributed as part of the tick microbiome. The aim of this study was to differentiate if the presence of Bb occurs with a defined tick microbiome composition. Furthermore, the effect of location on tick microbiome composition was addressed for two German locations. Therefore, nucleic acid extracts from 82 Borrelia-positive and 118 Borrelia-negative Ixodes ricinus ticks sampled from human hosts in both districts were selected. Nucleic acid extracts were used for human pathogenic Bb species diagnostics based on qPCR and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing followed by network analyses. As a result, the presence of Bb shifted the sequence read abundances of Candidatus Midichloria, Rickettsia, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, and Candidatus Neoehrlichia and their topological roles in the tick microbiome. Moreover, the location was less important in the tick microbiome composition but shifted significantly sequence read abundances of Pseudomonas and Wolbachia as well as the topological role of microbial members. Since the presence of human pathogenic Bb species with other tick-associated pathogens varies regionally, we suggest that a bacterial 16S rRNA gene-based microbiome survey should be implemented in the routine diagnostics for both tick and host if human pathogenic species of Bb were detected. This diagnostic extension will help to optimize therapeutic approaches against Bb infection and co-occurring pathogens.
Highlights
Ixodes serve as vectors for tick-borne pathogens (TBPs), including species of the genera Borrelia, Rickettsia, or Babesia [1,2], which can be transmitted from and/or to their hosts
Lyme borreliosis (LB) is a multisystemic infectious disease with the highest incidence in Europe and North American, caused by human pathogenic bacterial species belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi s. l. complex (Bb)
This study address three a priori hypotheses. (I) the presence of human pathogenic species of the Bb in ticks cause a shift in the composition of the bacterial tick microbiome compared to those bacterial tick microbiomes without human pathogenic species of the Bb, (II) if the occurrence of LB exists without an identifiable distribution pattern in Germany, the bacterial tick microbiome, including human pathogenic
Summary
Ticks are obligate blood-sucking ectoparasites with diverse animals and humans as hosts. Ixodes serve as vectors for tick-borne pathogens (TBPs), including species of the genera Borrelia, Rickettsia, or Babesia [1,2], which can be transmitted from and/or to their hosts. In Germany, Ixodes ricinus is the most common tick species and was linked to 13,361 cases of Lyme borreliosis (LB) in 2018 without an identifiable distribution pattern [3–5]. LB is a multisystemic infectious disease with the highest incidence in Europe and North American, caused by human pathogenic bacterial species belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi s. Within the at least 20 genospecies comprising. Six are assured human pathogenic species, namely: B. burgdorferi s. Cerebrospinal fluids (CSF), skin, or blood of the hosts are used to analyze these human pathogenic Bb species
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