Lice, bed bugs, ticks, leeches, and other tiny blood-sucking crawling creatures are regarded as nasty vampires, causing itches, eliciting disgusting feeling, vectoring human and animal diseases, and thereby bringing about medical, health, hygienic and mental problems in human societies. Besides the microbial pathogens they carry and transmit, unique microorganisms are associated with them and affect their physiology, ecology, and other biological aspects in a variety of ways. For example, their food, vertebrate blood, is certainly nutrition-rich, but devoid of some important nutrients like B vitamins. Hence, many blood feeders possess specialized organs called bacteriomes for hosting vitamin-provisioning symbionts, which enable them to thrive only on the blood meal. Fully engorged blood feeders provide a peculiar gut environment with plenty of iron and antimicrobials like antibodies, complements, etc., which provide a special environment that may foster unique gut microbiota. Some microbial symbionts like Wolbachia manipulate reproductive and other phenotypes of their blood-sucking hosts such as mosquitoes, which could be utilized for vector and disease control.
Owing to recent development of high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies, our knowledge of microbiome found in these organisms with unique feeding habit and physiology is also growing rapidly. Here, we propose the research topic “Microbial Associates of Blood-Sucking Arthropods and Other Animals: Relevance to Their Physiology, Ecology and Evolution” to provide an opportunity to compile and overview the new information emerging in this research field.
Any scientifically sound, solid and competent submissions of high quality on microbial associates with arthropods and other animals living on vertebrate blood are very welcome. Expected biological systems include: insects like tsetse flies (Glossinidae), louse flies (Hippoboscidae), bat flies (Nycteribiidae), horse flies (Tabanidae), blackflies (Simuliidae), sand flies (Phlebotominae), biting midges (Ceratopogonidae), sucking lice (Anoplura), fleas (Siphonaptera), bed bugs (Cimicidae), assassin bugs (Triatominae), etc.; acari like hard ticks (Ixodidae), soft ticks (Argasidae), chigger mites (Trombidiformes), etc.; crustaceans like fish lice (Argulidae), tongue-biters (Cymothoidae), etc.; annelids like leeches (Hirudinea); mammals like vampire bats (Chiroptera); and others.
We also welcome contributions on mosquitoes (Culicidae), but suggest that the authors may consider a more focused research topic “Microbiota: A Consequential Third Wheel in the Mosquito-Pathogen Relationship” that is concurrently running.
https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/13719/microbiota-a-consequential-third-wheel-in-the-mosquito-pathogen-relationship
Here we note that purely therapeutic/medical contributions will not be considered, which are out of focus for this research topic.
Lice, bed bugs, ticks, leeches, and other tiny blood-sucking crawling creatures are regarded as nasty vampires, causing itches, eliciting disgusting feeling, vectoring human and animal diseases, and thereby bringing about medical, health, hygienic and mental problems in human societies. Besides the microbial pathogens they carry and transmit, unique microorganisms are associated with them and affect their physiology, ecology, and other biological aspects in a variety of ways. For example, their food, vertebrate blood, is certainly nutrition-rich, but devoid of some important nutrients like B vitamins. Hence, many blood feeders possess specialized organs called bacteriomes for hosting vitamin-provisioning symbionts, which enable them to thrive only on the blood meal. Fully engorged blood feeders provide a peculiar gut environment with plenty of iron and antimicrobials like antibodies, complements, etc., which provide a special environment that may foster unique gut microbiota. Some microbial symbionts like Wolbachia manipulate reproductive and other phenotypes of their blood-sucking hosts such as mosquitoes, which could be utilized for vector and disease control.
Owing to recent development of high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies, our knowledge of microbiome found in these organisms with unique feeding habit and physiology is also growing rapidly. Here, we propose the research topic “Microbial Associates of Blood-Sucking Arthropods and Other Animals: Relevance to Their Physiology, Ecology and Evolution” to provide an opportunity to compile and overview the new information emerging in this research field.
Any scientifically sound, solid and competent submissions of high quality on microbial associates with arthropods and other animals living on vertebrate blood are very welcome. Expected biological systems include: insects like tsetse flies (Glossinidae), louse flies (Hippoboscidae), bat flies (Nycteribiidae), horse flies (Tabanidae), blackflies (Simuliidae), sand flies (Phlebotominae), biting midges (Ceratopogonidae), sucking lice (Anoplura), fleas (Siphonaptera), bed bugs (Cimicidae), assassin bugs (Triatominae), etc.; acari like hard ticks (Ixodidae), soft ticks (Argasidae), chigger mites (Trombidiformes), etc.; crustaceans like fish lice (Argulidae), tongue-biters (Cymothoidae), etc.; annelids like leeches (Hirudinea); mammals like vampire bats (Chiroptera); and others.
We also welcome contributions on mosquitoes (Culicidae), but suggest that the authors may consider a more focused research topic “Microbiota: A Consequential Third Wheel in the Mosquito-Pathogen Relationship” that is concurrently running.
https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/13719/microbiota-a-consequential-third-wheel-in-the-mosquito-pathogen-relationship
Here we note that purely therapeutic/medical contributions will not be considered, which are out of focus for this research topic.
