mSphere of Influence: How a gut microbiota study reshaped my thinking on tick-borne pathogens

Xin-Ru Wang works in tick biology and intracellular bacterial pathogenesis. In this mSphere of Influence article, she reflects on how "Gut microbiota of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis modulate colonization of the Lyme disease spirochete" by Narasimhan et al. (2014) reshaped her understanding of vector competence by placing pathogen colonization within the ecological context of the tick microbiome. Her laboratory studies Rickettsia-tick cell interactions, including autophagy, apoptosis, and innate immune signaling. Here, she examines how this ecological framework extends to the intracellular level, where pathogenic Rickettsia may encounter cellular environments already shaped by resident endosymbionts.