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Rollins RE, Margos G, Brachmann A, Krebs S, Mouchet A, Dingemanse NJ, Laatamna A, Reghaissia N, Fingerle V, Metzler D, Becker NS, Chitimia-Dobler L. German Ixodes inopinatus samples may not actually represent this tick species. Int J Parasitol 2023; 53:751-761. [PMID: 37516335 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2023.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023]
Abstract
Ticks are important vectors of human and animal pathogens, but many questions remain unanswered regarding their taxonomy. Molecular sequencing methods have allowed research to start understanding the evolutionary history of even closely related tick species. Ixodes inopinatus is considered a sister species and highly similar to Ixodes ricinus, an important vector of many tick-borne pathogens in Europe, but identification between these species remains ambiguous with disagreement on the geographic extent of I. inopinatus. In 2018-2019, 1583 ticks were collected from breeding great tits (Parus major) in southern Germany, of which 45 were later morphologically identified as I. inopinatus. We aimed to confirm morphological identification using molecular tools. Utilizing two genetic markers (16S rRNA, TROSPA) and whole genome sequencing of specific ticks (n = 8), we were able to determine that German samples, morphologically identified as I. inopinatus, genetically represent I. ricinus regardless of previous morphological identification, and most likely are not I. ricinus/I. inopinatus hybrids. Further, our results showed that the entire mitochondrial genome, let alone singular mitochondrial genes (i.e., 16S), is unable to distinguish between I. ricinus and I. inopinatus. Our results suggest that I. inopinatus is geographically isolated as a species (northern Africa and potentially southern Spain and Portugal) and brings into question whether I. inopinatus exists in central Europe. Our results highlight the probable existence of I. inopinatus and the power of utilizing genomic data in answering questions regarding tick taxonomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert E Rollins
- Institute of Avian Research "Vogelwarte Helgoland", Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
| | - Gabriele Margos
- National Reference Center for Borrelia, Bayerisches Landesamt für Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit, Oberschleißheim, Germany
| | - Andreas Brachmann
- Genetics, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Stefan Krebs
- Gene Center, Laboratory for Functional Genome Analysis, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Alexia Mouchet
- Behavioural Ecology Group, LMU Munich/Department of Biology, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany; IDEEV UMR Evolution, Génomes, Comportement, Ecologie, IRD, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Niels J Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology Group, LMU Munich/Department of Biology, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - AbdElkarim Laatamna
- Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Djelfa, Moudjbara Road, BP 3117, Djelfa, Algeria
| | - Nassiba Reghaissia
- Laboratory of Sciences and Living Techniques, Institute of Agronomic and Veterinary Sciences, University of Souk Ahras, Annaba Road 41000, Souk Ahras, Algeria
| | - Volker Fingerle
- National Reference Center for Borrelia, Bayerisches Landesamt für Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit, Oberschleißheim, Germany
| | - Dirk Metzler
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich, Germany
| | - Noémie S Becker
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich, Germany
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Šujanová A, Čužiová Z, Václav R. The Infection Rate of Bird-Feeding Ixodes ricinus Ticks with Borrelia garinii and B. valaisiana Varies with Host Haemosporidian Infection Status. Microorganisms 2022; 11:microorganisms11010060. [PMID: 36677352 PMCID: PMC9861293 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11010060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Birds are known to maintain and spread human pathogenic borreliae, but they are common hosts of diverse parasite communities, notably haemosporidians. Only a few studies examined whether tick infestation and/or Borrelia prevalences vary with hosts' haemosporidian infection status. METHODS Here, we study whether Ixodes ricinus infestation rates and Borrelia infection rates in bird-feeding ticks vary according to haemosporidian infection status in a community of free-living avian tick hosts. RESULTS Birds of six avian species harbored the majority of ticks. Both the tick infestation prevalence and the intensity peaked during spring and summer, but while bird-feeding nymphs prevailed in spring, bird-feeding larvae dominated in summer. Almost half of the bird-feeding ticks were found to be positive for B. burgdorferi s.l. Although the majority of infections involved bird-associated B. garinii and B. valaisiana, B. garinii appears to be the dominant Borrelia strain circulating in locally breeding avian species. We detected a negative link between the hosts' haemosporidian infection status and the Borrelia infection rate of bird-feeding ticks, but the association was dependent on the host's age. CONCLUSIONS Our results on tick infestation intensity support the idea that more immunologically vulnerable hosts harbor more ticks but suggest that different mechanisms may be responsible for tick infestation rates among immunologically naïve and experienced avian hosts. The results on Borrelia infection rates in bird-feeding ticks are consistent with studies revealing that intracellular parasites, such as haemosporidians, can benefit from the host immune system prioritizing immune responses against extracellular parasites at the expense of immune responses against intracellular parasites. The findings of our study urge for a more robust design of parasitological studies to understand the ecology of interactions among hosts and their parasites.
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Behavioral Repertoire on a Vertical Rod-An Ethogram in Dermacentor reticulatus Ticks. LIFE (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:life12122086. [PMID: 36556451 PMCID: PMC9787772 DOI: 10.3390/life12122086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Ticks are important vectors of pathogens that endanger humans and animals. Study of their behavior under laboratory conditions is important for both predicting their behavior in natural conditions and understanding their involvement in transmission cycles of pathogens, which may lead to effective prevention of tick-borne disease transmission or establishment of effective preventive measures. The aim of our study was to describe the behavior of D. reticulatus ticks using laboratory assay. We focused on the description of individual behavioral units during their vertical movement. The assay consisted of glass beakers filled with sand and an embedded glass rod. We observed 10 different behavioral units, 4 of which have not yet been described: body posturing called "jogger", leg grooming, and body or leg jerking. The most frequent tick behavior observed was an upwards positioning of the two front legs while the body remained motionless (88.9%). Other common observations were both horizontal (63%) and vertical (58.0%) body posturing with all legs lowered, followed by questing behavior (51.9%). Ticks spent the most time questing (75.2%), crawling (54.7%), and grooming legs on the right side (23%). We did not observe any differences between males and females.
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Perez G. Role of bank vole (Myodes glareolus) personality on tick burden (Ixodes spp.). Folia Parasitol (Praha) 2022; 69. [DOI: 10.14411/fp.2022.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Allan ATL, White AF, Hill RA. Intolerant baboons avoid observer proximity, creating biased inter-individual association patterns. Sci Rep 2022; 12:8077. [PMID: 35577907 PMCID: PMC9110335 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12312-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Social network analysis is an increasingly popular tool for behavioural ecologists exploring the social organisation of animal populations. Such analyses require data on inter-individual association patterns, which in wild populations are often collected using direct observations of habituated animals. This assumes observers have no influence on animal behaviour; however, our previous work showed that individuals in a habituated group of chacma baboons (Papio ursinus griseipes) displayed consistent and individually distinct responses to observer approaches. We explored the implications of our previous findings by measuring the inter-individual association patterns of the same group of chacma baboons at different observer distances. We found a strong positive association between individual tolerance levels (towards observers) and how often an animal appeared as a neighbour to focal animals when observers were nearer, and a neutral relationship between the same variables when the observer was further away. Additionally, association matrices constructed from different observation distances were not comparable within any proximity buffer, and neither were the individual network metrics generated from these matrices. This appears to be the first empirical evidence that observer presence and behaviour can influence the association patterns of habituated animals and thus have potentially significant impacts on measured social networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew T L Allan
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Dawson Building, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK. .,Primate and Predator Project, Lajuma Research Centre, PO Box 522, Louis Trichardt, 0920, South Africa.
| | - Amy F White
- Primate and Predator Project, Lajuma Research Centre, PO Box 522, Louis Trichardt, 0920, South Africa
| | - Russell A Hill
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Dawson Building, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK.,Primate and Predator Project, Lajuma Research Centre, PO Box 522, Louis Trichardt, 0920, South Africa.,Department of Zoology, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou, 0950, South Africa
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Tardy O, Vincenot CE, Bouchard C, Ogden NH, Leighton PA. Context-dependent host dispersal and habitat fragmentation determine heterogeneity in infected tick burdens: an agent-based modelling study. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022. [PMID: 35360357 DOI: 10.5061/dryad.nzs7h44rx] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
As the incidence of tick-borne diseases has sharply increased over the past decade, with serious consequences for human and animal health, there is a need to identify ecological drivers contributing to heterogeneity in tick-borne disease risk. In particular, the relative importance of animal host dispersal behaviour in its three context-dependent phases of emigration, transfer and settlement is relatively unexplored. We built a spatially explicit agent-based model to investigate how the host dispersal process, in concert with the tick and host demographic processes, habitat fragmentation and the pathogen transmission process, affects infected tick distributions among hosts. A sensitivity analysis explored the impacts of different input parameters on infected tick burdens on hosts and infected tick distributions among hosts. Our simulations indicate that ecological predictors of infected tick burdens differed among the post-egg life stages of ticks, with tick attachment and detachment, tick questing activity and pathogen transmission dynamics identified as key processes, in a coherent way. We also found that the type of host settlement strategy and the proportion of habitat suitable for hosts determined super-spreading of infected ticks. We developed a theoretical mechanistic framework that can serve as a first step towards applied studies of on-the-ground public health intervention strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Tardy
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Christian E Vincenot
- Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Catherine Bouchard
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
- Public Health Risk Sciences Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Nicholas H Ogden
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
- Public Health Risk Sciences Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Patrick A Leighton
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
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Tardy O, Vincenot CE, Bouchard C, Ogden NH, Leighton PA. Context-dependent host dispersal and habitat fragmentation determine heterogeneity in infected tick burdens: an agent-based modelling study. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220245. [PMID: 35360357 PMCID: PMC8965412 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
As the incidence of tick-borne diseases has sharply increased over the past decade, with serious consequences for human and animal health, there is a need to identify ecological drivers contributing to heterogeneity in tick-borne disease risk. In particular, the relative importance of animal host dispersal behaviour in its three context-dependent phases of emigration, transfer and settlement is relatively unexplored. We built a spatially explicit agent-based model to investigate how the host dispersal process, in concert with the tick and host demographic processes, habitat fragmentation and the pathogen transmission process, affects infected tick distributions among hosts. A sensitivity analysis explored the impacts of different input parameters on infected tick burdens on hosts and infected tick distributions among hosts. Our simulations indicate that ecological predictors of infected tick burdens differed among the post-egg life stages of ticks, with tick attachment and detachment, tick questing activity and pathogen transmission dynamics identified as key processes, in a coherent way. We also found that the type of host settlement strategy and the proportion of habitat suitable for hosts determined super-spreading of infected ticks. We developed a theoretical mechanistic framework that can serve as a first step towards applied studies of on-the-ground public health intervention strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Tardy
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Christian E. Vincenot
- Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Catherine Bouchard
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
- Public Health Risk Sciences Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Nicholas H. Ogden
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
- Public Health Risk Sciences Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Patrick A. Leighton
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
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Senécal S, Mouchet A, Dingemanse NJ. Life-history trade-offs, density, lay date—not personality—explain multibroodedness in great tits. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
In various taxa, multibroodedness is a common breeding strategy. Life-history theory predicts that individuals can increase fitness by producing multiple broods within a season. Despite the apparent increase in the number of offspring parents might produce per season, not all individuals are multibrooded, suggesting a trade-off. We studied ecological and behavioral factors influencing the initiation of second clutches in great tits (Parus major), an optionally multibrooded bird species, by distinguishing two types of clutches: replacement versus true second clutches, produced after failure versus successful first breeding attempts, respectively. We predicted which lay date, density, and investment in first clutches would decrease the probability of initiating a second clutch, but which faster exploring behavioral types with a faster pace-of-life would be more likely to be multibrooded. The probability of initiating true second clutches varied negatively within-individuals with lay date and breeding density. The initiation of replacement clutches instead varied negatively among-individuals with lay date and density, suggesting nonrandom settlement of behavioral types across environments. Individuals were less likely to be multibrooded when producing many offspring from their first clutch, suggesting within-year reproductive trade-offs, similar to previous studies. No previous research has linked personality to multibroodedness; here we show which neither the repeatable nor the plastic part of an individual’s exploratory behavior predicted multibroodedness. We confirmed our prediction which the resolution of trade-offs may occur either at the within- or among-individual level. Our research contributes to the understanding of life-history evolution in the wild by studying the mechanisms shaping multibroodedness within seasons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Senécal
- Département de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski G5L 3A1, Canada
- Centre d’études nordiques, Université Laval, Québec G1V 0A6, Canada
- Quebec Center for Biodiversity Science, McGill University, Montréal H3A 0G4, Canada
| | - Alexia Mouchet
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich 80539, Germany
| | - Niels J Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich 80539, Germany
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Heterogeneous selection on exploration behavior within and among West European populations of a passerine bird. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2024994118. [PMID: 34234017 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2024994118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Heterogeneous selection is often proposed as a key mechanism maintaining repeatable behavioral variation ("animal personality") in wild populations. Previous studies largely focused on temporal variation in selection within single populations. The relative importance of spatial versus temporal variation remains unexplored, despite these processes having distinct effects on local adaptation. Using data from >3,500 great tits (Parus major) and 35 nest box plots situated within five West-European populations monitored over 4 to 18 y, we show that selection on exploration behavior varies primarily spatially, across populations, and study plots within populations. Exploration was, simultaneously, selectively neutral in the average population and year. These findings imply that spatial variation in selection may represent a primary mechanism maintaining animal personalities, likely promoting the evolution of local adaptation, phenotype-dependent dispersal, and nonrandom settlement. Selection also varied within populations among years, which may counteract local adaptation. Our study underlines the importance of combining multiple spatiotemporal scales in the study of behavioral adaptation.
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Norte AC, Boyer PH, Castillo-Ramirez S, Chvostáč M, Brahami MO, Rollins RE, Woudenberg T, Didyk YM, Derdakova M, Núncio MS, de Carvalho IL, Margos G, Fingerle V. The Population Structure of Borrelia lusitaniae Is Reflected by a Population Division of Its Ixodes Vector. Microorganisms 2021; 9:microorganisms9050933. [PMID: 33925391 PMCID: PMC8145215 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9050933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Populations of vector-borne pathogens are shaped by the distribution and movement of vector and reservoir hosts. To study what impact host and vector association have on tick-borne pathogens, we investigated the population structure of Borrelia lusitaniae using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Novel sequences were acquired from questing ticks collected in multiple North African and European locations and were supplemented by publicly available sequences at the Borrelia Pubmlst database (accessed on 11 February 2020). Population structure of B. lusitaniae was inferred using clustering and network analyses. Maximum likelihood phylogenies for two molecular tick markers (the mitochondrial 16S rRNA locus and a nuclear locus, Tick-receptor of outer surface protein A, trospA) were used to confirm the morphological species identification of collected ticks. Our results confirmed that B. lusitaniae does indeed form two distinguishable populations: one containing mostly European samples and the other mostly Portuguese and North African samples. Of interest, Portuguese samples clustered largely based on being from north (European) or south (North African) of the river Targus. As two different Ixodes species (i.e., I. ricinus and I. inopinatus) may vector Borrelia in these regions, reference samples were included for I. inopinatus but did not form monophyletic clades in either tree, suggesting some misidentification. Even so, the trospA phylogeny showed a monophyletic clade containing tick samples from Northern Africa and Portugal south of the river Tagus suggesting a population division in Ixodes on this locus. The pattern mirrored the clustering of B. lusitaniae samples, suggesting a potential co-evolution between tick and Borrelia populations that deserve further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Cláudia Norte
- MARE-Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal;
- Centre for Vector and Infectious Diseases Research, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Águas de Moura, 2965-575 Setúbal, Portugal; (M.S.N.); (I.L.d.C.)
| | - Pierre H. Boyer
- CHRU Strasbourg, UR7290 Lyme Borreliosis Group, ITI InnoVec, Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Institut de Bactériologie, University of Strasbourg, 3 rue Koeberlé, 67000 Strasbourg, France;
| | - Santiago Castillo-Ramirez
- Programa de Genómica Evolutiva, Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 565-A, Cuernavaca, CP 62210, Mexico;
| | - Michal Chvostáč
- Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia; (M.C.); (Y.M.D.); (M.D.)
| | - Mohand O. Brahami
- Laboratory of Ecology and Biology of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Faculty Biological and Agronomic Sciences, University Mouloud Mammeri, 15000 Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria;
| | - Robert E. Rollins
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, LMU Munich, Faculty of Biology, Grosshaderner Strasse 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany;
| | - Tom Woudenberg
- National Reference Center for Borrelia, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany; (T.W.); (V.F.)
| | - Yuliya M. Didyk
- Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia; (M.C.); (Y.M.D.); (M.D.)
- Department of Acarology, I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, B. Khmelnytskogo 15, 01030 Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Marketa Derdakova
- Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia; (M.C.); (Y.M.D.); (M.D.)
| | - Maria Sofia Núncio
- Centre for Vector and Infectious Diseases Research, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Águas de Moura, 2965-575 Setúbal, Portugal; (M.S.N.); (I.L.d.C.)
- Environmental Health Institute, Medicine Faculty, University of Lisbon, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Isabel Lopes de Carvalho
- Centre for Vector and Infectious Diseases Research, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Águas de Moura, 2965-575 Setúbal, Portugal; (M.S.N.); (I.L.d.C.)
- Environmental Health Institute, Medicine Faculty, University of Lisbon, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Gabriele Margos
- National Reference Center for Borrelia, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany; (T.W.); (V.F.)
- Correspondence: or ; Tel.: +49-9131-6808-5883
| | - Volker Fingerle
- National Reference Center for Borrelia, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany; (T.W.); (V.F.)
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