Amblyomma aureolatum organ microbiota

The tick Amblyomma aureolatum is the vector of Rickettsia rickettsii, the causative agent of Brazilian spotted fever. The tick microbiota modulates the immune system and metabolism, which can either favor or limit the establishment of pathogens, consequently shaping the vector competence.We quantified the total bacterial loads in the midgut, salivary glands, and ovaries of adult A. sculptum and A. aureolatum ticks fed as larvae on either naive or R. rickettsii infected hosts by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, the taxonomic composition of microbiota was explored using high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene V3V4 hypervariable regions.