Blood-Sucking Arthropods

By Luz A. Rodriguez

Bacterial communities found in blood-sucking arthropods, such as ticks and fleas, tend to vary dramatically depending on the arthropod. One study suggests that factors such as the arthropods’ species, life stage, and engorgement are to blame for the types of microbes found within these pests. Using 16S rRNA pyrosequencing to identify the bacterial compositon of fleas and ticks collected from 193 rodents from Southern Indiana in the US, scientists were able to make a marvelous discovery. These unique findings suggest that the vertebrate host and the environment seem to have no effect on the bacterial life inside the arthropod but instead have a correlation with the arthropod’s traits. 

 

Figure from Hawlena et al. 2012 showing results of prevalence of bacterial species depending on arthropod. In this figure each oval encircles a bacterial community in an individual arthropod or those of the same species. Each point represents an arthropod while symbol and color distinguish its species. Points that are closer to each other represent higher similarity than points that are further.  

 

Original Article: Hawlena H, Rynkiewicz E, Toh E, Alfred A, Durden L, Hastriter M, Nelson D, Rong R, Munro D, Dong Q, Fuqua C and Clay K. (2012). The arthropod, but not the vertebrate host or its environment, dictates bacterial community composition of fleas and ticks. ISME J 7: 221–223; doi:10.1038/ismej.2012.71