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Updated: Nov 10, 2025

Tick Microbiome Characterization by Next-Generation 16S rRNA Amplicon Sequencing
Published on: August 25, 2018
The genus Anaplasma: drawing back the curtain on tick-pathogen interactions
Anya J O'Neal1, Nisha Singh1, Maria Tays Mendes1
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Abstract:
Tick-borne illnesses pose a serious concern to human and veterinary health and their prevalence is on the rise. The interactions between ticks and the pathogens they carry are largely undefined. However, the genus Anaplasma, a group of tick-borne bacteria, has been instrumental in uncovering novel paradigms in tick biology. The emergence of sophisticated technologies and the convergence of entomology with microbiology, immunology, metabolism and systems biology has brought tick-Anaplasma interactions to the forefront of vector biology with broader implications for the infectious disease community. Here, we discuss the use of Anaplasma as an instrument for the elucidation of novel principles in arthropod-microbe interactions. We offer an outlook of the primary areas of study, outstanding questions and future research directions.
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