PRJNA664219
Unbiased characterization of the microbiome and virome of questing ticks
In this study, 140 unfed female paralysis ticks (Ixodes holocyclus) were collected from 14 different sites (10 ticks/site) in north east NSW, Australia. Of the ticks, half were selected for amplification of the bacterial profile and the other half was used for the viral profile. For the bacterial profile, 5 ticks from each site were pooled and pooled DNA was isolated using a two commercial genomic DNA kit, and we sequenced the DNA at two 16S rRNA hypervariable gene regions (V1-V3 and V3-V4). The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of geographic factors on the tick bacterial profile at two hypervariable regions.