Anaplasma

Borrelia burgdorferi

Borrelia

Biology

Virology

Ixodes

Phlebovirus

Bunyaviridae

Amblyomma americanum

Tick

Immunology

Ixodidae

Anaplasma phagocytophilum

Microbiology

Babesia

Virus

Ixodes scapularis

Antibody

Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases

We employed high throughput sequencing to survey the microbiomes of Ixodes scapularis collected in New York and Connecticut. We examined 197 individual I. scapularis adults and pools from 132 adults and 197 nymphs. We detected Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in 56.3% of individual ticks, Anaplasma phagocytophilum in 10.6%, Borrelia miyamotoi in 5%, Babesia microti in 7.6%, and Powassan virus in 3.6%. We did not detect Borrelia mayonii, Ehrlichia muris eauclairensis, Bartonella spp. or pathogenic Babesia species other than B. microti. The most abundant bacterium (65%), and only rickettsial species identified, was the endosymbiont Rickettsia buchneri. A filarial nematode was found in 13.7% of adult ticks. Fourteen viruses were detected including South Bay virus (22%) and blacklegged tick phlebovirus 1 and 2 (73%). This study provides insight into the microbial diversity of I. scapularis in New York State and Connecticut.

Microbiome analysis of Ixodes scapularis ticks from New York and Connecticut