Influence of endosymbionts on the reproductive fitness of the tick *Ornithodoros moubata*use asterix (*) to get italics

Taraveau Florian, Pollet Thomas, Duhayon Maxime, Gardès Laëtitia, Jourdan-Pineau HélènePlease use the format "First name initials family name" as in "Marie S. Curie, Niels H. D. Bohr, Albert Einstein, John R. R. Tolkien, Donna T. Strickland"

2023

<p style="text-align: justify;">Over the past decade, many studies have demonstrated the crucial role of the tick microbiome in tick biology. The soft tick <em>Ornithodoros moubata</em> is a hematophagous ectoparasite of <em>Suidae</em>, best known for transmitting the <em>African swine fever virus</em>. Its bacterial microbiota is characterized by a high prevalence of <em>Francisella</em>-like and <em>Rickettsia</em> endosymbionts. The present study aims to better understand the potential influence of these two major members of the tick microbiota on the reproductive fitness of <em>O. moubata</em>. A total of 132 adult female ticks were treated with antibiotics using gentamycin or rifampicin added to the blood meal. Half of the ticks were also supplemented with B vitamins to address the nutritional role of endosymbionts. Over two periods of 50 days, several traits related to the reproductive fitness were monitored to investigate the importance of <em>Francisella</em> and <em>Rickettsia</em> for these traits. It appeared that most of the reproductive parameters considered were not affected. However, antibiotic treatments induced an increase in the tick survival, indicating a potential fitness cost of harboring endosymbionts during the tick reproductive cycle. Similarly, 366 first stage nymphs of <em>Ornithodoros moubata</em> were exposed to the same treatments for molecular quantification of both endosymbionts. Results from qPCR suggested that the treatments had a bacteriostatic effect on endosymbionts without completely eliminating neither <em>Francisella</em>-like endosymbiont nor <em>Rickettsia</em>.</p>

https://doi.org/doi:10.5061/dryad.bg79cnpfmYou should fill this box only if you chose 'All or part of the results presented in this preprint are based on data'. URL must start with http:// or https://

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7937778You should fill this box only if you chose 'Scripts were used to obtain or analyze the results'. URL must start with http:// or https://

Soft tick, Ornithodoros, microbiota, antibiotic treatment, Francisella-like endosymbiont, Rickettsia

NonePlease indicate the methods that may require specialised expertise during the peer review process (use a comma to separate various required expertises).

Mutualistic symbionts, Parasites, Pathogenic/Symbiotic Bacteria, Physiology of hosts, infectious agents, or vectors, Vectors

Davide Sassera [davide.sassera@unipv.it], Hein Sprong [hsprong@gmail.com], Tuomas Aivelo [tuomas.aivelo@helsinki.fi], Dasiel Obregon Alvarez [dasieloa@uoguelph.ca], Daniel Tamarit [daniel.tamarit@wur.nl], Chiara Bazzocchi [chiara.bazzocchi@unimi.it], Olivier Plantard [olivier.plantard@inrae.fr], Melina Garcia Guizzo [melinaguizzo@gmail.com], Sukanya Narasimhan [sukanya.narasimhan@yale.edu] No need for them to be recommenders of PCIInfections. Please do not suggest reviewers for whom there might be a conflict of interest. Reviewers are not allowed to review preprints written by close colleagues (with whom they have published in the last four years, with whom they have received joint funding in the last four years, or with whom they are currently writing a manuscript, or submitting a grant proposal), or by family members, friends, or anyone for whom bias might affect the nature of the review - see the code of conduct

2023-05-25 19:00:33

Angélique Gobet