Characterization of the bacterial microbiome of cattle ticks in northeastern Thailand through 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing

Ticks are vectors of a variety of pathogens that can infect humans and animals. Ticks also harbor non-pathogenic microbiota. In Thailand, cattle ticks and tick-borne diseases have economically important effects on livestock. This is particularly true in northeastern Thailand, a region with most of the traditional beef cattle farming. However, the microbial community specifically found in cattle ticks from northeastern Thailand is still unknown. In this work, we have characterized the native bacterial communities in cattle ticks in northeastern Thailand based on analysis of DNA sequences from the V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene. The results should improve our understanding of the microbial community profile of cattle ticks in the area, thereby providing a focus for future research on tick-borne pathogen control strategies.