TY - JOUR AU - Elbir, Haitham AU - Almathen, Faisal AU - Alhumam, Naser A PY - 2019/11/30 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - A glimpse of the bacteriome of Hyalomma dromedarii ticks infesting camels reveals human Helicobacter pylori pathogen JF - The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries JA - J Infect Dev Ctries VL - 13 IS - 11 SE - Original Articles DO - 10.3855/jidc.11604 UR - https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/32087072 SP - 1001-1012 AB - <p>Introduction: The tick <em>Hyalomma dromedarii</em> is predominant in camels of Saudi Arabia and harbor multiple pathogens causing disease in humans and animals. Knowing the bacterial community of ticks is crucial for surveillance of known and newly emerging pathogens. Yet, the bacteriome of <em>H. dromedarii</em> remain unexplored to date.</p><p>Methodology: In a cross-sectional survey, we used V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA to characterize the bacteriome of 62 whole <em>H. dromedarii</em> tick samples collected from camels found in Hofuf city in Saudi Arabia.</p><p>Results: Sequencing results yielded 217 species incorporated into 114 genera, which in turn belong to the dominant phylum <em>Proteobacteria</em> (98%) followed by <em>Firmicutes</em> (1.38%), <em>Actinobacteria</em> (0.36%), <em>Bacteroidetes</em> (0.17%), meanwhile the phyla <em>Cyanobacteria</em>, <em>Verrucomicrobia</em> and unclassified bacteria were rarely detected.<em> Francisella</em> endosymbiont dominated the bacteriome of <em>H. dromedarii</em> ticks with average abundance of 94.37% and together with <em>Salincoccus</em> sp. accounted for 94.51% of the average sequences. The remaining bacteriome consisted of low abundance of potential pathogens and environmental bacteria. Of these pathogens, we found <em>Helicobacter pylori</em> in the tick <em>H. dromedarii</em> for the first time. Notably, <em>Anaplasma</em>, <em>Ehrlichia </em>and <em>Rickettsia</em> pathogens known to be found in <em>H. dromedarii</em> ticks were not detected.</p><p>Conclusion: This first preliminary study advances our knowledge about the bacterial community of <em>H. dromedarii</em> ticks and provides a basis for pathogen surveillance and studying the influences of symbionts on vector competence. Presence of pathogens in ticks, raise concerns about potential transmission of these agents to humans or animals.</p> ER -