4.4 Article

Rickettsia spp. in ticks from a tropical dry forest reserve on Mexico's Pacific Coast

Journal

TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
Volume 13, Issue 3, Pages -

Publisher

ELSEVIER GMBH
DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2022.101911

Keywords

Ixodida; Bacteria; Mammals; Amblyomma; Ornithodoros

Funding

  1. Direccion General de Asuntos del Personal Academico-Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, through the Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigacion e Innovacion Tecnologica (PAPIIT) [IN214918]

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The present study analyzed the diversity of Rickettsia bacteria in ticks collected from the Chamela Biological Station in Mexico. Four Rickettsia taxa were identified, including a strain known to cause spotted fever. These findings are important for understanding the prevalence and transmission of tick-borne diseases in the region.
The present study analyzes the diversity of bacteria of the genus Rickettsia in ticks collected from wild mammals and vegetation at the Chamela Biological Station (EBCh), Jalisco, Mexico, a core area in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve, which is characterized by the presence of tropical dry forest, one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Ticks were collected during April and November 2018 and 2019, determined to species, and subsequently processed for rickettsiae. Genomic DNA was extracted from each of 349 ticks (198 from mammals, 151 from vegetation) and screened for Rickettsia by targeting the gltA and ompA genes. Overall, 75 ticks (21.5%) were positive for rickettsiae (46 from mammals, 29 from vegetation). Through BLASTn and maximum likelihood analysis, four Rickettsia taxa were identified. Only Rickettsia amblyommatis had been previously recorded in the vicinity of the EBCh, and we confirm its presence in this reserve, associated with Amblyomma mixtum, Amblyomma cf. oblongoguttatum and Amblyomma parvum. Additionally, we record for the first time at EBCh the taxa Rickettsia parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest, which is known to cause spotted fever illness in humans, detected in Amblyomma ovale; Rickettsia bellii in A. parvum and Ornithodoros talaje; and an undescribed Rickettsia sp. in Ixodes sinaloa.

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