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Molecular Detection of Trypanosoma spp. in Questing and Feeding Ticks (Ixodidae) Collected from an Endemic Region of South-West Australia.

ABSTRACT: A growing number of indigenous trypanosomes have been reported to naturally infect a variety of Australian wildlife with some species of Trypanosoma implicated in the population decline of critically endangered marsupials. However, the mode of transmission of Australian trypanosomes is unknown since their vectors remain unidentified. Here we aimed to fill this current knowledge gap about the occurrence and identity of indigenous trypanosomes in Australian invertebrates by conducting molecular screening for the presence of Trypanosoma spp. in native ticks collected from south-west Australia. A total of 231 ticks (148 collected from vegetation and 83 retrieved directly from 76 marsupial hosts) were screened for Trypanosoma using a High-Resolution Melt (HRM) qPCR assay. An overall Trypanosoma qPCR positivity of 37% (46/125) and 34% (26/76) was detected in questing ticks and host-collected (i.e., feeding) ticks, respectively. Of these, sequencing revealed 28% (35/125) of questing and 28% (21/76) of feeding ticks were infected with one or more of the five species of trypanosome previously reported in this region (T. copemani, T. noyesi, T. vegrandis, T. gilletti, Trypanosoma sp. ANU2). This work has confirmed that Australian ticks are capable of harbouring several species of indigenous trypanosome and likely serve as their vectors.

SUBMITTER: Krige AS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8398035 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:A total of 853 questing Ixodes ricinus males, females, and nymphs and of 582 questing Dermacentor reticulatus males and females were collected from vegetation on the territory of the Lublin province (eastern Poland). The ticks were examined for the presence of Babesia by PCR detecting part of 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and nuclear small subunit rRNA (SS-rDNA) for determining of Babesia spp. and Babesia microti, respectively. The overall incidence of Babesia strains in I. ricinus ticks was 4.6%. Three species of Babesia were identified. The prevalent species was B. microti which occurred in 2.8% of ticks, while Babesia venatorum, Babesia divergens, and unidentified Babesia species were found at the frequency of 1.2, 0.2, and 0.3%, respectively. Altogether, B. microti constituted 61.5% of the total strains detected in I. ricinus, B. venatorum-25.7%, B. divergens-5.1%, and unidentified Babesia species-7.7%. The prevalence of Babesia species in I. ricinus did not depend significantly on locality (χ(2) = 1.885, P = 0.390) nor on the tick stage (χ(2) = 4.874, P = 0.087). The incidence of Babesia strains in D. reticulatus ticks was 2.7%. Two species of Babesia were identified. Again, the prevalent species was B. microti which occurred in 2.1% of ticks, while B. canis was found in 0.7% of ticks. In one D. reticulatus female, B. canis and B. microti co-infection was found. Altogether, B. microti constituted 75% of the total strains detected in D. reticulatus while B. canis formed 25% of the total strains. The frequency of the occurrence of Babesia species in D. reticulatus did not depend significantly on locality (χ(2) = 0.463, P = 0.793). The difference between the prevalence of Babesia in males and females of D. reticulatus was insignificant (P = 0.0954); nymphs were not found. The dominance of B. microti in the species composition of tick-borne Babesia found in this study was typical for eastern Europe. In conclusion, the results revealed that the population inhabiting the forested area of eastern Poland could be exposed to Babesia parasites, especially to those from the species B. microti, by a bite of I. ricinus, a competent vector of human babesiosis, and probably also by a bite of D. reticulatus whose role in the transmission of human babesiosis needs to be clarified.

Dataset Information

Molecular Detection of Trypanosoma spp. in Questing and Feeding Ticks (Ixodidae) Collected from an Endemic Region of South-West Australia.

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