Abstract
Most bacteria found in ticks are not pathogenic to humans but coexist as endosymbionts and may have effects on tick fitness and pathogen transmission. In this study, we cultured and isolated 78 bacteria from 954 Ixodes ricinus ticks collected in 7 sites of a Belgian peri-urban forest. Most isolated species were non-pathogenic environmental microorganisms, and were from the Firmicutes (69.23%), Actinobacteria (17.95%) and Proteobacteria (3.84%) phyla. One bacterium isolate was particularly noteworthy, Cedecea davisae, a rare opportunistic bacterium, naturally resistant to various antibiotics. It has never been isolated from ticks before and this isolated strain was resistant to ampicillin, cefoxitin and colistin. Although cultivable bacteria do not represent the complete tick microbiota, the sites presented variable bacterial compositions and diversities. This study is a first attempt to describe the culturable microbiota of ticks collected in Belgium. Further collections and analyses of ticks of different species, from various areas and using other bacterial identification methods would strengthen these results. However, they highlight the importance of ticks as potential sentinel for opportunistic bacteria of public health importance.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
We found the same proportions of the 3 phyla, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria, in the 113 bacteria isolated from the gut of the haematophagous
It is clear that TBP are not the only microorganisms present in Ixodes ticks, which harbor larger, and still poorly understood microbiota communities
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Ticks are important vectors of pathogens affecting humans and animals worldwide [1,2,3]. These pathogens attract great public heath interest, and many studies tried to estimate the influence of human, environmental, and climatic factors on tick abundance and pathogen prevalence [4,5,6]. Tick bacterial composition is not restricted to pathogenic agents
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