Bacterial community ecology of the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum)

Author/Creator:

Williams-Newkirk, Amanda Jo, author

Publication/Creation:

Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2015

Resource Type:

Book

More Details

Additional/Related Title Information

Full Title:

Bacterial community ecology of the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) / Amanda Jo Williams-Newkirk

Related Names

Additional Author/Creators:

Gillespie, Thomas R., degree supervisor
Dasch, Gregory A., degree supervisor
Emory University. Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, degree granting institution

Subjects/Genre

Genre:

Electronic dissertations
Academic theses

Description/Summary

Summary:

Vector-borne diseases dominate the list of emerging infections from the last century. Among arthropod vectors, ticks (Acari, Ixodida) transmit a greater diversity of disease causing organisms than any other known order. In the southeastern United States, the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum ) is the most abundant and aggressive humanbiting tick and a vector of multiple known or suspected pathogens, including Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Borrelia, and Heartland virus. The long life cycle of A. americanum and its broad host range complicate studies aimed at understanding the ecology of these diseases. Furthermore, abundant symbiotic bacteria, many of which are closely related to known pathogens, are a part of the tick's microbial community. Studies in this and other systems have robustly demonstrated that the non-pathogenic component of a vector's microbiome is capable of affecting the ability of the arthropod to acquire, maintain, and transmit pathogens to vertebrates. As a result, it is now recognized that pathogen ecology must be described in the context of the vector and the vector's microbiome. The aim of my dissertation was to provide the necessary context for further studies of A. americanum disease ecology. In my survey of A. americanum bacterial communities, I characterized the bacteria from 131 ticks collected from five sites in three states distributed throughout the species' eastern range. I then compared A. americanum 's bacterial community to that of sympatric tick species of varying relatedness to determine if species with the opportunity to share hosts also shared similar microbiota and to look for evidence of the evolutionary history of the ticks in their bacterial communities. During these studies I detected multiple genotypes of a novel symbiont, Candidatus 'Midichloria mitochondrii', in two Amblyomma species. In addition, I provided the first reference mitochondrial genome sequence for A. americanum, a tool that will be very important to future population genetics studies of this tick. My work provides a foundation for future studies in A. americanum by quantifying both intra and interspecific differences in bacterial communities, detecting new members of the bacterial community, and describing interactions between members which may now be targeted for characterization, metabolic evaluation, and functional studies.

Language:

English

Language Note:

English

Physical Type/Description:

1 online resource (1 electronic resource (323 pages))

General Note:

Source of abstract: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 76-10(E), Section: B.
Advisors: Thomas R. Gillespie; Gregory A. Dasch ; Committee members: Nicole Marie Gerardo; Uriel Kitron; Timothy D. Read; James Taylor.

Local Note:

ProQuest digital dissertation copies of Emory dissertations may be downloaded free of charge by Emory faculty, students, and staff unless the author has chosen to embargo the work.

Additional Identifiers

Catalog ID (MMSID):

9936517603102486

ISBN:

9781321844931