title: Intracellular symbionts and other bacteria associated with deer ticks (Ixodes scapularis) from Nantucket and Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
abstract: The diversity of bacteria associated with the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) was assessed using PCR amplification, cloning, and sequencing of 16S rRNA genes originating from seven ticks collected from Nantucket Island and Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Mass. The majority of sequences obtained originated from gram-negative proteobacteria. Four intracellular bacteria were detected including strains of Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, and Wolbachia and an organism related to intracellular insect symbionts from the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides group. Several strains of members of the Sphingomonadaceae were also detected in all but one tick. The results provide a view of the diversity of bacteria associated with I. scapularis ticks in the field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Micah J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Gawronski
authors.forename: Douglas E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Eveleigh
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Benson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis; D018884:Ixodes / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008404:Massachusetts; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S