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Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks and Small Mammals from Grassland and Forest Habitats in Central Germany

Rickettsiae of the spotted fever group (SFG) are zoonotic tick-borne pathogens. Small mammals are important hosts for the immature life stages of two of the most common tick species in Europe, Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus. These hosts and vectors can be found in diverse habitats with d...

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Autores principales: Arz, Charlotte, Król, Nina, Imholt, Christian, Jeske, Kathrin, Rentería-Solís, Zaida, Ulrich, Rainer G., Jacob, Jens, Pfeffer, Martin, Obiegala, Anna
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10386184/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37513780
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12070933
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author Arz, Charlotte
Król, Nina
Imholt, Christian
Jeske, Kathrin
Rentería-Solís, Zaida
Ulrich, Rainer G.
Jacob, Jens
Pfeffer, Martin
Obiegala, Anna
author_facet Arz, Charlotte
Król, Nina
Imholt, Christian
Jeske, Kathrin
Rentería-Solís, Zaida
Ulrich, Rainer G.
Jacob, Jens
Pfeffer, Martin
Obiegala, Anna
author_sort Arz, Charlotte
collection PubMed
description Rickettsiae of the spotted fever group (SFG) are zoonotic tick-borne pathogens. Small mammals are important hosts for the immature life stages of two of the most common tick species in Europe, Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus. These hosts and vectors can be found in diverse habitats with different vegetation types like grasslands and forests. To investigate the influence of environmental and individual factors on Rickettsia prevalence, this study aimed to analyse the prevalence of SFG rickettsiae in ticks and small mammals in different small-scale habitats in central Germany for the first time. Small mammals of ten species and ticks of two species were collected from grasslands and forests in the Hainich-Dün region, central Germany. After species identification, DNA samples from 1098 ticks and ear snips of 1167 small mammals were screened for Rickettsia DNA by qPCR targeting the gltA gene. Positive samples were retested by conventional PCR targeting the ompB gene and sequencing. Rickettsia DNA was detected in eight out of ten small mammal species. Small mammal hosts from forests (14.0%) were significantly more often infected than those from grasslands (4.4%) (p < 0.001). The highest prevalence was found in the mostly forest-inhabiting genus Apodemus (14.8%) and the lowest in Microtus (6.6%), which inhabits grasslands. The prevalence was higher in D. reticulatus (46.3%) than in the I. ricinus complex (8.6%). Adult ticks were more often infected than nymphs (p = 0.0199). All sequenced rickettsiae in I. ricinus complex ticks were R. helvetica, and the ones in D. reticulatus were R. raoultii. Unlike adults, questing nymphs have had only one blood meal, which explains the higher prevalence in I. ricinus adults. Interestingly, habitat type did influence infection probability in small mammals, but did not in ticks. A possible explanation may be the high prevalence in Apodemus flavicollis and A. sylvaticus which were more abundant in the forest.
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spelling pubmed-103861842023-07-30 Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks and Small Mammals from Grassland and Forest Habitats in Central Germany Arz, Charlotte Król, Nina Imholt, Christian Jeske, Kathrin Rentería-Solís, Zaida Ulrich, Rainer G. Jacob, Jens Pfeffer, Martin Obiegala, Anna Pathogens Article Rickettsiae of the spotted fever group (SFG) are zoonotic tick-borne pathogens. Small mammals are important hosts for the immature life stages of two of the most common tick species in Europe, Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus. These hosts and vectors can be found in diverse habitats with different vegetation types like grasslands and forests. To investigate the influence of environmental and individual factors on Rickettsia prevalence, this study aimed to analyse the prevalence of SFG rickettsiae in ticks and small mammals in different small-scale habitats in central Germany for the first time. Small mammals of ten species and ticks of two species were collected from grasslands and forests in the Hainich-Dün region, central Germany. After species identification, DNA samples from 1098 ticks and ear snips of 1167 small mammals were screened for Rickettsia DNA by qPCR targeting the gltA gene. Positive samples were retested by conventional PCR targeting the ompB gene and sequencing. Rickettsia DNA was detected in eight out of ten small mammal species. Small mammal hosts from forests (14.0%) were significantly more often infected than those from grasslands (4.4%) (p < 0.001). The highest prevalence was found in the mostly forest-inhabiting genus Apodemus (14.8%) and the lowest in Microtus (6.6%), which inhabits grasslands. The prevalence was higher in D. reticulatus (46.3%) than in the I. ricinus complex (8.6%). Adult ticks were more often infected than nymphs (p = 0.0199). All sequenced rickettsiae in I. ricinus complex ticks were R. helvetica, and the ones in D. reticulatus were R. raoultii. Unlike adults, questing nymphs have had only one blood meal, which explains the higher prevalence in I. ricinus adults. Interestingly, habitat type did influence infection probability in small mammals, but did not in ticks. A possible explanation may be the high prevalence in Apodemus flavicollis and A. sylvaticus which were more abundant in the forest. MDPI 2023-07-12 /pmc/articles/PMC10386184/ /pubmed/37513780 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12070933 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Arz, Charlotte
Król, Nina
Imholt, Christian
Jeske, Kathrin
Rentería-Solís, Zaida
Ulrich, Rainer G.
Jacob, Jens
Pfeffer, Martin
Obiegala, Anna
Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks and Small Mammals from Grassland and Forest Habitats in Central Germany
title Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks and Small Mammals from Grassland and Forest Habitats in Central Germany
title_full Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks and Small Mammals from Grassland and Forest Habitats in Central Germany
title_fullStr Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks and Small Mammals from Grassland and Forest Habitats in Central Germany
title_full_unstemmed Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks and Small Mammals from Grassland and Forest Habitats in Central Germany
title_short Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks and Small Mammals from Grassland and Forest Habitats in Central Germany
title_sort spotted fever group rickettsiae in ticks and small mammals from grassland and forest habitats in central germany
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10386184/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37513780
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12070933
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