Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (12): 6375-6385.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.12.039

• PREVENTIVE VETERINARY MEDICINE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Observation on the Dynamic Changes of Microbial Community in the Blood-feeding Period of Hyalomma asiaticum

HUERCHA1,2,3, YANG Depeng1, LUO Tingxiang1, LI Caishan1, LI Peiying1, MA Zhen1, YANG Sen1, WANG Meiying1, BAYINCHAHAN Gailike1, GUO Qingyong1, HU Zhengxiang4*   

  1. 1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China;
    2. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of New Drug Research and Development for Herbivorous Animals, Urumqi 830052, China;
    3. Postdoctoral Research Station of Veterinary Medicine, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China;
    4. College of Grassland Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
  • Received:2025-02-24 Published:2025-12-24

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Abstract: This study focuses on female adult Hyalomma asiaticum, aiming to thoroughly investigate the microbial community composition in certain internal organs during different blood-feeding stages and the fully engorged state. By analyzing the impact of the blood-feeding period on the differences in microbial abundance, the key data on the changes in the microbial community within female H. asiaticum were obtained, which was used to provide a data reference for relevant research. In this study, the Illumina Novaseq sequencing platform was employed to conduct high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA V3 - V4 region in female H. asiaticum at different blood-feeding stages and in multiple organs (including the midgut, Malpighian tubules, ovaries, and salivary glands) of fully engorged female H. asiaticum. Through comparative analysis, the dynamic changes in the microbial communities in female ticks at different stages and in the organs of fully engorged ticks were revealed. As the blood-feeding process of H. asiaticum progressed, the Shannon index of microbial community diversity showed a significant decreasing trend, dropping from 4.2±0.3 in the starved state to 1.8±0.2 in the fully engorged state (P<0.01). During this process, Proteobacteria gradually became the absolutely dominant phylum, with a relative abundance exceeding 99%. Analysis of the fully engorged organs indicated that Francisella was highly enriched in the engorged ovaries, with a relative abundance as high as 99.75%, and there was an extremely significant difference compared to Francisella in the midgut (P<0.01). In addition, the abundance of this genus exhibited a trend of first increasing and then decreasing with blood-feeding time. Specifically, the abundance was 12.3% at 24 h of blood-feeding, reached a peak of 89.7% at 96 h, and then decreased to 75.3% in the fully engorged state. The results of this study fully reveal the complexity and diversity of the microbial communities in the internal organs of female H. asiaticum at different blood-feeding stages and in the fully engorged state. This discovery not only enriches our understanding of the microbial communities associated with H. asiaticum but provides an important data foundation for further in-depth comprehension of the interactions between the microbial communities and the host within H. asiaticum adults.

Key words: Hyalomma asiaticum, 16S rRNA sequencing, Francisella, symbiotic bacteria

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