A new Cardinium group of bacteria found in Achipteria coleoptrata (Acari: Oribatida)

The understanding of the biology of arthropods requires an understanding of their bacterial associates. We determined the distribution of bacteria Wolbachia sp., Rickettsia sp., Cardinium sp., Spiroplasma sp., Arsenophonus sp., Hamiltonella sp., and Flavobacterium in oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida). We identified Cardinium sp. in Achipteria coleoptrata. This is the first report of this bacterium in A. coleoptrata. Approximately 30% of the mite population was infected by Cardinium sp. The Cardinium 16S rDNA was examined for the presence of two sequences unique for this microorganism. One of them was noted in Cardinium sp. of A. coleoptrata. In the second sequence, we found nucleotide substitution in the 7th position: A instead of T. In our opinion, this demonstrated the unique nature of Cardinium sp. of A. coleoptrata. We also determined phylogenetic relationship between Cardinium sp., including the strain found in A. coleoptrata by studying the 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequences. It revealed that Cardinium from A. coleoptrata did not cluster together with strains from groups A, B, C or D, and constituted a separate clade E. These observations make A. coleoptrata a unique Cardinium host in terms of the distinction of the strain.