Microbiome of Ixodes scapularis ticks from wester New York

The goal of this study is to characterize to bacterial microbiome from Ixodes scapularis ticks collected from Western New York state. The characterization and understanding of the tick microbiota is an important step toward determining pathogen burden, understanding host/pathogen interactions, and the possibility of microbiome alteration or manipulation to control tick populations or prevent the acquisition of certain pathogens in tick species. In this study, 36 female, 12 male, 8 nymph, and 11 larva were collected and 16s rRNA genes were amplified from each sample.