Bacteria and related to tick-borne pathogen assemblages in Ornithodoros cf. hasei (Acari: Argasidae) and blood of the wild mammal hosts in the Orinoquia region, Colombia

Interest in research on soft ticks has increased in recent decades, leading to valuable insight into their role as disease vectors. The use of metagenomics based analyses has helped to elucidate ecological factors involved in pathogen, vector, and host dynamics. To understand the main bacterial assemblages present in Ornithodoros cf. hasei and its mammalian hosts, 84 ticks and 13 blood samples from bat Chiroptera hosts were selected, and the 16 S rRNA gene V4 region was sequenced in five pools, each one related to each host tick pairing. Bacterial taxonomic assignment analyses were performed by comparing operational taxonomic units OTUs shared between ticks and their host blood. This analysis showed the presence of Proteobacteria 38.8, Enterobacteriaceae 25, Firmicutes 12.3, and Actinobacteria 10.9 within blood samples, and Rickettsiaceae 39, Firmicutes 25, Actinobacteria 13.1, and Proteobacteria 9 within ticks. Species related to potentially pathogenic genera were detected in ticks such as Borrelia sp., Bartonella tamiae, Ehrlichia sp. and Rickettsia-like endosymbiont, and the presence of these organisms was found in all analyzed bat species Cynomops planirostris, Molossus pretiosus, Noctilio albiventris, and O. cf. hasei. About 41 to 48.6 of bacterial OTUs genera and species were shared between ticks and the blood of bat hosts. Targeted metagenomic screening techniques has allowed the detection of tick-associated pathogens for O. cf. hasei and small mammals for the first time, enabling future research on many of these pathogens.