AUTHOR=Beliavskaia Alexandra , Hönig Vaclav , Erhart Jan , Vyhlidalova Tereza , Palus Martin , Cerny Jiri , Kozlova Irina , Ruzek Daniel , Palomar Ana M. , Bell-Sakyi Lesley 

TITLE=Spiroplasma Isolated From Third-Generation Laboratory Colony Ixodes persulcatus Ticks

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.659786

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2021.659786

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Spiroplasma</italic> are vertically-transmitted endosymbionts of ticks and other arthropods. Field-collected <italic>Ixodes persulcatus</italic> have been reported to harbour <italic>Spiroplasma</italic>, but nothing is known about their persistence during laboratory colonisation of this tick species. We successfully isolated <italic>Spiroplasma</italic> from internal organs of 6/10 unfed adult ticks, belonging to the third generation of an <italic>I. persulcatus</italic> laboratory colony, into tick cell culture. We screened a further 51 adult male and female ticks from the same colony for presence of <italic>Spiroplasma</italic> by genus-specific PCR amplification of fragments of the 16S rRNA and <italic>rpoB</italic> genes; 100% of these ticks were infected and the 16S rRNA sequence showed 99.8% similarity to that of a previously-published <italic>Spiroplasma</italic> isolated from field-collected <italic>I. persulcatus</italic>. Our study shows that <italic>Spiroplasma</italic> endosymbionts persist at high prevalence in colonised <italic>I. persulcatus</italic> through at least three generations, and confirms the usefulness of tick cell lines for isolation and cultivation of this bacterium.</p>