Analysis of prokaryotic microbiome in soft ticks collected in Japan

The microbiome diversity of insects suggests that ticks have a wide range of bacterial symbionts that can be changed under complex ecological and evolutional circumstances. The structures and dynamics of these microbiomes have not been descried in soft ticks as compared to other arthropods with public health importance. By using metagenomics and bioinformatics targeting the bacterial 16S rRNA gene across four natural (Argas japonicus, Argas vespertilionis, Ornithodoros capensis and Ornithodoros sawaii) and one laboratory reared (Ornithodoros moubata) soft tick species we describe the unique microbiome of each tick species.