microplus was eradicated like the USA. Conclusion Tick microbiomes remain largely unexplored. By EPZ-6438 cell line comparison to the proposed strategy to

accomplish the Human Microbiome Project, the work presented here constitutes the initial data acquisition and analysis exercise towards a comprehensive analysis of the R. microplus microbiome. A thorough understanding of the functional, ecological, and evolutionary aspects of the bacterial diversity in communities associated with the cattle tick requires additional investigations. The bacteria we found could have favorable effects on the tick’s successful infestation of its cattle host, perhaps with roles in host blood CB-839 manufacturer digestion, immunity against infection by competing microbes potentially deleterious to the tick, or

effects on population structure and fertility. Cattle AR-13324 ticks have evolved in conjunction with bovine hosts; therefore, bovine-tick interactions have likely influenced the ecology of their microbiomes. Even within the tick itself, there are feedback mechanisms influencing interactions at the host-microbiome interface. Our results further document the co-infection of cattle ticks with several bacteria, even in the presence of antimicrobial factors that are known to be produced by the tick immune system response in their hemolymph and gut tissues. Further investigations on the cattle tick microbiome are likely to enhance our understanding of the roles this cosmopolitan species serves as vector of bacteria that

may be pathogenic to its vertebrate hosts. Methods Tick samples Adult male and female ticks were obtained from a R. ifenprodil microplus infestation outbreak on cattle from Starr County, TX. Samples from the infestation were collected by USDA personnel in November, 2008, and shipped to the USDA Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory in Moore Field, TX, where the samples were frozen at -80°C. Prior to freezing, eggs were collected from gravid females, mixed together, and pooled and labeled as f1 generation. A portion of these f1 eggs were used to establish a laboratory colony to obtain adult ticks as described previously [79]. Two adult females and two adult males developed from these f1 eggs and three small clumps of approximately 100 f1 eggs each were used for the DNA extraction and pyrosequencing. The gut and ovary samples were obtained from the f20 generation of the La Minita strain of R. microplus that has been maintained Babesia -free at the University of Idaho Holm Research Center since 1999. The founding ticks for this strain were originally collected in Starr County, TX, in 1996. Using standard protocols approved by the University of Idaho Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, La Minita larvae were placed on a stanchioned calf and replete females collected and dissected under sterile phosphate-buffered saline during the period of active oviposition.