Infection and Co-infection Rates of Anaplasma phagocytophilum Variants, Babesia spp., Borrelia burgdorferi, and the Rickettsial Endosymbiont in Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) from Sites in Indiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Fresia E. Steiner, Ball State University; Robert R. Pinger, Ball State University; Carolyn N. Vann, Ball State University; Nate Grindle, Indiana University; David Civitello, Emory University; Keith Clay, Indiana University; Clay Fuqua, Indiana University
• Language: English
• Date: 2008-03-01
• Publisher: Oxford Academic
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2008 Entomological Society of America
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/45.2.289
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Medical Entomology
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 289
• End Page: 297
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was sponsored in part by National Science Foundation Grant EF-0326842, with additional support from the Department of Physiology and Health Science, Ball State University
• Keywords: microbial pathogens; ixodes scapularis; tick; polymerase chain reaction
• Research Categories: Biology, Microbiology; Health Sciences, Pathology; Biology, Entomology

Abstract

In total, 394 questing adult blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae), collected at four sites were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for five microbial species: Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Babesia odocoilei, Borrelia burgdorferi, and the rickettsial I. scapularis endosymbiont. Identities of genetic variants of A. phagocytophilum were determined by sequencing a portion of the 16S DNA. In 55% of infected ticks (193/351), a single agent was detected. In 45% (158/351), two or more agents were detected; 37% harbored two agents and 8% harbored three agents. One male tick, collected from Ft. McCoy, WI, harbored all four microbial genera. The highest rates of co-infection were by the Ixodes endosymbiont and B. burgdorferi (95/351). Two species of Babesia co-occurred within a single tick population in Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, Wells, ME, whereas only B. odocoilei was found in other tick populations. Only A. phagocytophilum human anaplasmosis variant was detected in questing ticks from Tippecanoe River State Park, IN; from Wells; and Ft. McCoy, whereas a single infected tick from Presque Isle, PA, was infected by AP-Variant 1. Partially engorged ticks from deer in Tippecanoe River State Park were all infected with AP-Variant 1. Frequency of infections with each agent varied among populations. Rates and types of co-infections were not significantly different from random except for the Ixodes endosymbiont and B. burgdorferi in male ticks, which co-occurred less frequently than expected. Thus, I. scapularis hosts an array of pathogenic and symbiotic agents and potential evidence of interactions among microbial species was observed.