Abstract:
Ticks transmit pathogens and harbour non-pathogenic, vertically transmitted intracellular bacteria termed endosymbionts. Almost all ticks studied to date contain 1 or more of Coxiella, Francisella, Rickettsia or Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii endosymbionts, indicative of their importance to tick physiology. Genomic and experimental data suggest that endosymbionts promote tick development and reproductive success. Here, we review the limited information currently available on the potential roles endosymbionts play in enhancing tick metabolism and fitness. Future studies that expand on these findings are needed to better understand endosymbionts’ contributions to tick biology. This knowledge could potentially be applied to design novel strategies that target endosymbiont function to control the spread of ticks and pathogens they vector.
摘要:
蜱传播病原体并携带非致病性,垂直传播的细胞内细菌称为内共生体。迄今为止研究的几乎所有蜱都含有一种或多种柯西拉,Francisella,立克次体或念珠菌线粒体内共生体,表明它们对滴答生理学的重要性。基因组和实验数据表明,内共生体促进蜱的发育和繁殖成功。这里,我们回顾了目前有限的有关内共生体在增强蜱代谢和适应性方面的潜在作用的信息。需要对这些发现进行扩展的未来研究,以更好地了解内共生体对蜱生物学的贡献。这些知识可以潜在地应用于设计针对内共生体功能的新策略,以控制它们所载体的蜱和病原体的传播。