16S of Ixodes persulcatus microbiome
16S ribosomal RNA V3-V4 amplification using Forward Primer 5'-TCGTCGGCAGCGTCAGATGTGTATAAGAGACAGCCTACGGGNGGCWGCAG and Reverse Primer 5'-GTCTCGTGGGCTCGGAGATGTGTATAAGAGACAGGACTACHVGGGTATCTAATCC following 16S Metagenomic Sequencing Library Preparation Guide from Illumina using KAPA HiFi HotStart ReadyMix. Libraries were quality-controlled with DNA High Sensitivity Kit on Bioanalyzer and quantified on Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer. DNA samples from Borrelia bavariensis, Rickettsia helvetica and Anaplasma equii and pure distilled water (two wells per plate) used as controls and positioned randomly on the plate.