Native microbiota represent a potential resource for biocontrol of arthropod vectors. Ixodes scapularis is mostly inhabited by the endosymbiotic Rickettsia buchneri, but the composition of bacterial communities varies with life stage, fed status, and/or geographic location. We compared bacterial community diversity among I. scapularis populations sampled within a small geographic range in Central Pennsylvania. We collected and extracted DNA from ticks and sequenced amplicons of the eubacterial 16S rRNA gene from individuals and pooled samples. We then used taxon-specific PCR and/or qPCR to confirm the abundance or infection frequency of select pathogenic and symbiotic bacteria. Bacterial communities were more diverse in pools of males than females and the most abundant taxon was Rickettsia buchneri followed by Coxiellaceae (confirmed by sequencing as an unknown Rickettsiella species). High Rickettsiella titers in pools were likely due to a few heavily infected males. We determined that the infection frequency of Borrelia burgdorferi ranged from 20 to 75%. Titers of Anaplasma phagocytophilum were significantly different between sexes. Amplicon-based bacterial 16S sequencing is a powerful tool for establishing the baseline community diversity and focusing hypotheses for targeted experiments, but care should be taken not to overinterpret data based on too few individuals. We identified intracellular bacterial candidates that may be useful as targets for manipulation.

中文翻译：

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来自美国宾夕法尼亚州中部的肩x虾细菌群落

天然微生物代表了节肢动物载体生物控制的潜在资源。肩cap龙虾主要由内共生布氏立克次体（Rickettsia buchneri）栖息，但细菌群落的组成随生命阶段，进食状态和/或地理位置而异。我们比较了肩I鱼中的细菌群落多样性在宾夕法尼亚州中部一个较小的地理范围内抽样的人口。我们从tick中收集并提取了DNA，并从个体和收集的样品中测序了真细菌16S rRNA基因的扩增子。然后，我们使用分类群特异性PCR和/或qPCR来确定所选致病菌和共生细菌的丰度或感染频率。男性中的细菌群落比女性中的细菌群落更加多样化，并且最丰富的分类群是布氏立克次体，其次是科氏杆菌科（通过测序确认为未知的立克次体物种）。池中Rickettsiella滴度很高，可能是由于一些重度感染的雄性。我们确定伯氏疏螺旋体的感染频率为20％至75％。嗜吞噬细胞的滴度 性别之间存在显着差异。基于扩增子的细菌16S测序是建立基线群落多样性和针对假设实验聚焦假设的有力工具，但应注意不要过度解释基于过少个体的数据。我们确定了可能用作操作目标的细胞内细菌候选物。