title: Variation in the Microbiota of Ixodes Ticks with Regard to Geography, Species, and Sex.
abstract: Ixodes scapularis is the principal vector of Lyme disease on the East Coast and in the upper Midwest regions of the United States, yet the tick is also present in the Southeast, where Lyme disease is absent or rare. A closely related species, I. affinis, also carries the pathogen in the South but does not seem to transmit it to humans. In order to better understand the geographic diversity of the tick, we analyzed the microbiota of 104 adult I. scapularis and 13 adult I. affinis ticks captured in 19 locations in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, and New York. Initially, ticks from 4 sites were analyzed by 454 pyrosequencing. Subsequently, ticks from these sites plus 15 others were analyzed by sequencing with an Illumina MiSeq machine. By both analyses, the microbiomes of female ticks were significantly less diverse than those of male ticks. The dissimilarity between tick microbiomes increased with distance between sites, and the state in which a tick was collected could be inferred from its microbiota. The genus Rickettsia was prominent in all locations. Borrelia was also present in most locations and was present at especially high levels in one site in western Virginia. In contrast, members of the family Enterobacteriaceae were very common in North Carolina I. scapularis ticks but uncommon in I. scapularis ticks from other sites and in North Carolina I. affinis ticks. These data suggest substantial variations in the Ixodes microbiota in association with geography, species, and sex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Van Treuren
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Loganathan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ponnusamy
authors.affiliation: University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, USA, and School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermartizburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: R Jory
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Brinkerhoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Christian M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Parobek
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Juliano
authors.affiliation: Center for Vector Biology and Zoonotic Diseases, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Theodore G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Andreadis
authors.affiliation: New York State Department of Health, Louis Calder Center, Armonk, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Falco
authors.affiliation: Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Lorenza Beati
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.affiliation: Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology, University of Massachusetts School of Medicine, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hathaway
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Keeler
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Emch
authors.affiliation: Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology, University of Massachusetts School of Medicine, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Division of Transfusion Medicine, Department of Pathology, University of Massachusetts School of Medicine, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: R Michael
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Roe
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Charles S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Apperson
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA Departments of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA meshnick@unc.edu.
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Meshnick
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D058448:Biota; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005843:Geography; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S