Hyalomma dromedarii Raw sequence reads

The camel tick, Hyalomma dromedarii, is a prominent ectoparasite in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, critically impacting camel health and acting as a vector for tick-borne pathogens. Despite prior studies on its microbiota, the effects of geographic origin and gender on microbial community structure and functional stability remain poorly understood. Therefore, in this study, we characterized the bacterial microbiota of Hy. dromedarii ticks from camels in Tunisia and Saudi Arabia using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, microbial network analysis and metabolic pathway prediction. Our findings indicate a dominant presence of Francisella endosymbionts in Tunisian ticks, suggesting adaptive rolesof Hy. dromedarii ticks in arid ecosystems. Keystone taxa, particularly Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium, were identified as central to microbial network structure and resilience. Moreover, network robustness analyses demonstrated enhanced ecological stability in the Tunisian tick microbiota under perturbation, indicative of higher resilience to environmental fluctuations. Additionally, functional pathway predictions further revealed geographically distinct metabolic profiles between both groups (Tunisia vs. Saudi Arabia and males vs. females), underscoring environmental and biological influences on Hy. dromedarii microbiota assembly. These results provide insights into region-specific and gender-specific microbial adaptations and potential implications for pathogen transmission dynamics and vector resilience

骆驼蜱（Hyalomma dromedarii）是中东与北非（MENA）地区的重要体外寄生虫，不仅对骆驼健康造成严重危害，还可作为蜱传病原体的传播媒介。尽管已有针对其微生物群的相关研究，但地理来源与宿主性别对该蜱虫微生物群落结构及功能稳定性的影响仍有待阐明。为此，本研究针对突尼斯与沙特阿拉伯骆驼体内寄生的骆驼蜱（Hyalomma dromedarii），采用16S rRNA基因测序、微生物网络分析及代谢通路预测技术，对其细菌微生物群进行了系统解析。研究结果显示，突尼斯样本中的骆驼蜱体内存在优势共生菌弗朗西斯菌属（Francisella），提示骆驼蜱在干旱生态系统中具有适应性演化角色。关键类群（keystone taxa）（尤其是葡萄球菌属（Staphylococcus）与棒状杆菌属（Corynebacterium））被证实为微生物网络结构与恢复力的核心组成部分。此外，网络稳健性分析结果表明，突尼斯骆驼蜱的微生物群在扰动条件下具有更强的生态稳定性，提示其对环境波动的耐受能力更强。同时，代谢通路预测进一步揭示了两组样本（突尼斯与沙特阿拉伯样本、雌雄样本）间存在显著的地理特异性代谢特征，凸显了环境与生物学因素对骆驼蜱微生物群组装过程的调控作用。本研究结果为揭示骆驼蜱的地理与性别特异性微生物适应性提供了新视角，同时也为阐释蜱传病原体传播动态及媒介昆虫耐受能力的潜在机制提供了理论依据。