Data from: Characterization of the bacterial microbiota in wild-caught Ixodes ventalloi

Exploring the microbial diversity of ticks is crucial to understand
geographical dispersion and pathogen transmission. Tick microbes
participate in many biological processes implicated in the acquisition,
maintenance, and transmission of pathogens, and actively promote host
phenotypic changes, and adaptation to new environments. The microbial
community of Ixodes ventalloi still remains unexplored. In this study, the
bacterial microbiota of wild-caught I. ventalloi was characterized using
shotgun-metagenomic sequencing in samples from unfed adults collected
during December 2013-January 2014 in two locations from Sicily, Italy. The
microbiota identified in I. ventalloi was mainly composed of symbiotic,
commensal, and environmental bacteria. Interestingly, we identified the
genera Anaplasma and Borrelia as members of the microbiota of I.
ventalloi. These results advance our information on I. ventalloi
microbiota composition, with potential implications in tick-host
adaptation, geographic expansion, and vector competence.