# Impacts of Tick Parasitism on the Rodent Gut Microbiome

## TL;DR

This study shows that ticks can change the gut microbes in rodents, both in the wild and in lab settings.

## Contribution

The study reveals consistent microbial changes in rodent guts due to tick parasitism across different host species and environments.

## Key findings

- Tick parasitism is linked to altered fecal microbiota in wild rodents like Peromyscus leucopus and Sigmodon hispidus.
- Lab experiments show similar microbial shifts in BALB/c mice exposed to immature ticks.
- Muribaculaceae bacteria are more abundant in tick-infested hosts in both field and lab studies.

## Abstract

Host microbiota may impact disease vector behavior and pathogen transmission, but little is known about associations between ectoparasites and microbial communities in wildlife reservoir species. We used Illumina metagenomic sequencing to explore the impacts of tick parasitism on the rodent fecal microbiome in both a field and laboratory setting. We found that tick parasitism on wild hosts was associated with variation in the fecal microbiota of both the white-footed deermouse, Peromyscus leucopus, and the southern cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus. In a lab experiment, we detected significant changes to the fecal microbiome after experimental exposure to immature ticks in treated versus control BALB/c mice. Whereas there is variation in the fecal microbiome associated with each of the host species we tested, some of the same microbial taxa, notably members of the family Muribaculaceae, occurred at higher relative abundance in tick-parasitized hosts in both the field and laboratory studies, suggesting that there are consistent impacts of tick parasitism on the host gut microbiome. We recommend future studies to test the hypothesis that epithelial cell secretions, generated as part of the host’s immune response to tick parasitism, could provide resources that allow particular microbial lineages in the mammalian gut to flourish.