We employed both short-read (Illumina) and long-read (Nanopore) sequencing technologies to conduct a large-scale hologenomic analysis of 1,479 samples from 48 tick species across China.
Ticks represent the earliest identified arthropod vectors capable of transmitting a wide spectrum of pathogens affecting human and animal health globally. In this study, hologenomic sequencing was conducted on 1,479 samples from 48 tick species to investigate their genomic characteristics and the diversity of their associated microbiomes. Through de novo assembly, we reconstructed 7,783 bacterial genomes, representing 1,373 bacterial species-of which nearly two-thirds were previously unknown. Notably, 712 genomes from 32 bacterial species belonged to potential pathogens. Nutritional endosymbionts were found to be prevalent and highly specific to particular tick genera.