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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.

Sec. Microbial Symbioses

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1608409

Babesia bovis infection alters the composition and assembly of Rhipicephalus microplus midgut microbiota

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Immunology and Vaccines Laboratory, C. A. Natural Sciences School, Autonomous University of Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico
  • 2Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas, Natural Sciences School, Autonomous University of Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico
  • 3Laboratoire de Santé Animale de Maisons-Alfort (ANSES), Maisons Alfort, France
  • 4Laboratoire de Recherches sur le Développement de l'Elevage (INRA), Corte, France
  • 5EA 7310, Laboratoire de Virologie, Université de Corse, Corte, France
  • 66Animal Biotechnology Department, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Avenue 31, P.O. Box 6162, Habana, Cuba
  • 7School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
  • 8Faculty of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Querétaro, Juriquilla, Mexico
  • 9C.A. Salud Animal y Microbiología Ambiental. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Babesia bovis is one of the main causative agents of bovine babesiosis. Livestock farmers are constantly struggling to control the population of the tick vector and reduce babesiosis outbreaks. For this reason, the development of new control strategies is necessary. Tick microbiota consists of a diverse group of symbiotic, commensal, and pathogenic microorganisms. It has been shown that altering the microbiota population prevents the transmission of apicomplexan pathogens. This work represents a primary exploratory approach to determine the changes B. bovis infection causes in the microbiota of R. microplus. Two calves were infested with R. microplus larvae; next, one of the calves was splenectomized and infected with Babesia bovis. Fifteen days after the infestation, engorged females were collected from each calf. Collected ticks were separated into two groups: 0 h and 72 h. Ticks from the 0 h group were dissected to extract their midgut the same day they were collected, while . midgut dissection of the other group was done after 72 hours of incubation. Thus, samples were separated into 4 experimental groups depending on their infection status and the time of the dissection. Total DNA was purified and the V4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was sequenced using Illumina MiSeq technology. Data analysis showed fewer complex networks with reduced connectivity in infected ticks compared to the uninfected group. In both groups the tick microbiota networks showed reduced node density at 72 hours post-repletion. Different keystone taxa were found in all groups, indicating that midgut microbiota assembly is influenced by both tick developmental stage and the infection with B. bovis. Results of this work aim to serve as a steppingstone in the development of antitick microbiota vaccines capable of impairing both the life cycle of R. microplus and B. bovis transmission.

Keywords: Rhipicephalus microplus, Babesia bovis, microbiota, Network analysis, keystone bacteria

Received: 09 Apr 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Corona-Guerrero, Maitre, Abuin-Denis, Morales-García, Almazán, Obregon, Cabezas-Cruz and Mosqueda. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz, Laboratoire de Santé Animale de Maisons-Alfort (ANSES), Maisons Alfort, 94706, France
Juan Mosqueda, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Querétaro, Juriquilla, Mexico

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