“In the Tummy of the Tick” Exploring the Microbiome of Ixodes Scapularis (Deer) Ticks Pre and Post Feeding to Better Understand Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the US. This bacterial infection is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (B. burgdorferi s.s.) and is transmitted by Ixodes scapularis (I. scapularis), commonly known as the deer tick. Minnesota and Wisconsin both show a high incidence of Lyme disease, with over 2000 confirmed cases between the two states in 2018. Due to the increasing multitude of tick-borne pathogens (TBPs), the microbiome of the tick has become an area of interest to researchers. By characterizing the biome of these ticks, better risk mitigation efforts can be made, such as the earlier discovery of novel TBPs and tracking data for high-risk areas. To analyze the microbiomes of the ticks, nested PCR will be utilized in conjunction with an existing protocol from a DNEasy Blood and Tissue kit specifically for Borrelia. Together, these methodologies will allow us to answer the two central questions of this research: 1) how does the microbiome of the tick gut change when comparing engorged versus non-engorged tick samples and 2) how does the presence of Borrelia affect the makeup of the microbiome in these samples?