Local Population Structure and Seasonal Variability of Borrelia garinii Genotypes in Ixodes ricinus Ticks, Slovakia

Bibliographic Data

ID15501902
AuthorsZuzana Mtierová (Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences), Markéta Derdáková (0000-0003-2669-6969, Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences), Michal Chvostáč (Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences), Yuliya M Didyk (0000-0002-0762-6511, Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences), Barbara Mangová (0000-0003-4386-0812, Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences), Veronika Rusňáková Tarageľová (0000-0002-4316-9186, Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences), Diana Selyemová (0000-0003-3949-2463, Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences), Alžbeta Šujanová (0000-0002-1727-8370, Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences), Radovan Václav (0000-0003-0396-8810, Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume17
Issue10
Pages3607-3607
Publication date2020-05-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph17103607
PMID32455590
OpenAlexW3027980740
LanguageEN
References cited59

Lyme disease (LD) is the most common tick-borne human disease in Europe, and Borrelia garinii , which is associated with avian reservoirs, is one of the most genetically diverse and widespread human pathogenic genospecies from the B. burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) complex. The clinical manifestations of LD are known to vary between regions and depend on the genetic strain even within Borrelia genospecies. It is thus of importance to explore the genetic diversity of such pathogenic borreliae for the wide range of host and ecological contexts. In this study, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was employed to investigate the local population structure of B. garinii in Ixodes ricinus ticks. The study took place in a natural wetland in Slovakia, temporally encompassing spring and autumn bird migration periods as well as the breeding period of resident birds. In total, we examined 369 and 255 ticks collected from 78 birds and local vegetation, respectively. B. burgdorferi s.l. was detected in 43.4% (160/369) of ticks recovered from birds and in 26.3% (67/255) of questing ticks, respectively. Considering the ticks from bird hosts, the highest prevalence was found for single infections with B. garinii (22.5%). Infection intensity of B. garinii in bird-feeding ticks was significantly higher than that in questing ticks. We identified ten B. garinii sequence types (STs) occurring exclusively in bird-feeding ticks, two STs occurring exclusively in questing ticks, and one ST (ST 244) occurring in both ticks from birds and questing ticks. Four B. garinii STs were detected for the first time herein. With the exception of ST 93, we detected different STs in spring and summer for bird-feeding ticks. Our results are consistent with previous studies of the low geographic structuring of B. garinii genotypes. However, our study reveals some consistency in local ST occurrence and a geographic signal for one of the clonal complexes

Biology · Borrelia · Borrelia burgdorferi · Borrelia garinii · Botany · Environmental health · Gene · Genotype · Ixodes · Ixodes ricinus · Population · Ricinus · Tick · Zoology · Medicine · Vector-Borne Animal Diseases · Vector-borne infectious diseases · Viral Infections and Vectors · Genetics · Virology