Transovarial Transmission of Borrelia hermsii by Its Tick Vector and Reservoir Host Ornithodoros hermsi
| Autor: | Tom G. Schwan, Sandra J. Raffel |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Microbiology (medical)
relapsing fever Transovarial transmission QH301-705.5 Population Tick Microbiology Article relapsing fever spirochetes Virology parasitic diseases soft ticks medicine Parasite hosting Biology (General) education education.field_of_study biology Argasidae medicine.disease biology.organism_classification bacterial infections and mycoses borreliosis zoonoses Ornithodoros hermsi Borrelia hermsii |
| Zdroj: | Microorganisms, Vol 9, Iss 1978, p 1978 (2021) Microorganisms Volume 9 Issue 9 |
| ISSN: | 2076-2607 |
| Popis: | Transovarial passage of relapsing fever spirochetes (Borrelia species) by infected female argasid ticks to their progeny is a widespread phenomenon. Yet this form of vertical inheritance has been considered rare for the North American tick Ornithodoros hermsi infected with Borrelia hermsii. A laboratory colony of O. hermsi was established from a single infected female and two infected males that produced a population of ticks with a high prevalence of transovarial transmission based on infection assays of single and pooled ticks feeding on mice and immunofluorescence microscopy of eggs and larvae. Thirty-eight of forty-five (84.4%) larval cohorts (groups of larvae originating from the same egg clutch) transmitted B. hermsii to mice over four and a half years, and one hundred and three single and one hundred and fifty-three pooled nymphal and adult ticks transmitted spirochetes during two hundred and fourteen of two hundred and fifty-six (83.6%) feedings on mice over seven and a half years. The perpetuation of B. hermsii for many years by infected ticks only (without acquisition of spirochetes from vertebrate hosts) demonstrates the reservoir competence of O. hermsi. B. hermsii produced the variable tick protein in eggs and unfed larvae infected by transovarial transmission, leading to speculation of the possible steps in the evolution of borreliae from a tick-borne symbiont to a tick-transmitted parasite of vertebrates. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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