Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Peter Wilhelmsson, Per-Eric Lindgren, Thord Fransson, Giulio Grandi, Bjoern Olsen, Kenneth Nilsson
Summary: This study investigated the presence of tick-borne pathogens in Ixodes lividus ticks collected from sand martin nests in Sweden. The results showed that none of the ticks carried five tick-borne pathogens, but 37 ticks tested positive for Rickettsia spp. carrying the gltA gene, with the sequences most closely related to Candidatus Rickettsia vini.
VECTOR-BORNE AND ZOONOTIC DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Michael Wimbauer, Deon K. Bakkes, Silke Woelfel, Michael Broeker, Sabine Schaper, Ramona Riess, Gerhard Dobler, Lidia Chitimia-Dobler
Summary: Tick-borne diseases are on the rise and birds contribute to the spread of ticks and their associated pathogens. A study conducted in Germany collected ticks from birds and found that different tick species carried different pathogens.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Yana Igolkina, Vera Rar, Valeriy Yakimenko, Artem Tikunov, Nina Tikunova
Summary: A new candidate species of the spotted fever group, Candidatus Rickettsia thierseensis, was found in Austria and its gene sequences were highly similar to Candidatus Rickettsia uralica identified in Russia. Comparative sequence analysis confirmed that Candidatus R. uralica and Candidatus R. thierseensis are likely the same species.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Chien-Ming Shih, Pei-Wen Yang, Li-Lian Chao
Summary: This study detected R. parkeri-like and R. felis in I. granulatus ticks from Kinmen Island in Taiwan for the first time, with an infection rate of 4.86%. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all Taiwan strains were genetically affiliated to the genospecies of spotted fever and transitional groups of Rickettsia.
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Benjamin Cull, Nicole Y. Burkhardt, Xin-Ru Wang, Cody J. Thorpe, Jonathan D. Oliver, Timothy J. Kurtti, Ulrike G. Munderloh
Summary: This study found that the endosymbiont Rickettsia buchneri in ticks can inhibit the infection and replication of tick-borne pathogens. The presence of R. buchneri was observed to reduce the growth of R. parkeri by a significant percentage in tick cells. This research suggests a potential role of R. buchneri in preventing other rickettsiae from colonizing ticks and being transmitted transovarially, which could have important implications for understanding rickettsial competition and vector competence.
FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Parasitology
Sokani Sanchez-Montes, Veronica Santoyo-Colin, Alejandro Zapata-Marin, Andres M. Lopez-Perez, Guillermo Gil-Alarcon, Pablo Arenas, Hector M. Zazueta-Islas, Marlene Solis-Cortes, Beatriz Salceda-Sanchez, Pablo Colunga-Salas, Ingeborg Becker, Fernando Gual-Sill
Summary: This study provides new records of Ixodes dampfi nearly 80 years after its original description, including new locations, genetic data, and host-parasite records. The ticks parasitized four hosts from three different orders, with the 16S rDNA gene sequences showing similarity and partial sequences exhibiting genetic identities close to Candidatus Rickettsia species from Canada.
PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dana C. Price, Julia R. Brennan, Nicole E. Wagner, Andrea M. Egizi
Summary: This study used Shotgun metagenome sequencing to compare the hologenome data from two tick samples collected within a single US county, and found intriguing variants in the data between the two sites. Despite the overall similarity in microbial species between the two samples, interesting polymorphisms were detected.
Article
Microbiology
Xin-Ru Wang, Nicole Y. Burkhardt, Timothy J. Kurtti, Jonathan D. Oliver, Lisa D. Price, Benjamin Cull, Cody J. Thorpe, Michalina Silva Thiel, Ulrike G. Munderloh
Summary: This study reveals that apoptosis plays a crucial role in rickettsial infection and replication in tick cells, with no direct correlation between apoptosis activation and rickettsial pathogenicity in vector cells. These findings provide insights into the mechanisms of how apoptosis facilitates rickettsial infection in arthropod vectors, contributing to the potential discovery of targets for new vaccines and drugs against rickettsial infections.
Article
Entomology
Cody J. Thorpe, Xin-Ru Wang, Ulrike G. Munderloh, Timothy J. Kurtti
Summary: The blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, harbors an endosymbiont Rickettsia buchneri sensu stricto, largely restricted in the ovaries, with varying presence in different life stages. The endosymbiont can be cultivated in cell lines, with slow growth dynamics observed in ticks. Strong positive signals of R. buchneri were observed in ovaries and around developing oocytes, reinforcing its role as a transovarially transmitted, non-pathogenic endosymbiont.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Yana Igolkina, Aleksey Nikitin, Yulia Verzhutskaya, Natalia Gordeyko, Artem Tikunov, Tamara Epikhina, Nina Tikunova, Vera Rar
Summary: The discovery of Candidatus Rickettsia mendelii in 2016 in the Asian region has significant implications for the phylogeny of basal groups in Rickettsia spp.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Giovanni Sgroi, Roberta Iatta, Piero Lovreglio, Angela Stufano, Younes Laidoudi, Jairo Alfonso Mendoza-Roldan, Marcos Antonio Bezerra-Santos, Vincenzo Veneziano, Francesco Di Gennaro, Annalisa Saracino, Maria Chironna, Claudio Bandi, Domenico Otranto
Summary: During 2021, blood and serum samples were collected from 135 individuals exposed to tick bites in southern Italy. The study found a high circulation of tickborne pathogens and Candidatus M. mitochondrii DNA in the region, indicating the importance of coordinated surveillance for monitoring and controlling the spread of these pathogens.
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Xiao-Lan Gu, Rui Wang, Chuan-Min Zhou, Jiang-Tao Cui, Ze-Min Li, Ze-Zheng Jiang, Bang Li, Qiu-Ming Peng, Wen-Kang Zhang, Hui-Ju Han, Xue-Jie Yu
Summary: A natural Mediterranean spotted fever focus was found in rural areas of East China, and the range of R. conorii could be expanding.
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
David T. Gauthier, Sandor E. Karpathy, Stephanie L. Grizzard, Dhwani Batra, Lori A. Rowe, Christopher D. Paddock
Summary: A previously unrecognized Rickettsia species, Rickettsia tillamookensis sp. nov., isolated from Ixodes pacificus ticks in Tillamook County, Oregon, USA, shows distinct characteristics from known species, with the closest similarity to Rickettsia asembonensis and Rickettsia felis. This potentially pathogenic species, identified through whole-genome sequencing, grows aerobically in various cell lines and is proposed as a new species based on accepted genomic criteria.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Entomology
Christopher D. Paddock, Kimetha Slater, Andrea Swei, Maria L. Zambrano, Joyce E. Kleinjan, Kerry A. Padgett, Megan E. M. Saunders, Elizabeth S. Andrews, Erin Trent, Jianmin Zhong, Samantha Sambado, Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Emily L. Pascoe, Janet Foley, Robert S. Lane, Sandor E. Karpathy
Summary: The western black-legged tick is the most common tick species that bites humans in the western United States and is a major carrier of at least three known bacterial pathogens. A potential pathogenic Rickettsia species, called Rickettsia tillamookensis, has been identified in populations of this tick species. Through DNA analysis, it was found that 10 nymphs and 17 adults out of the collected samples carried the DNA of R. tillamookensis. Furthermore, four new isolates of R. tillamookensis were successfully cultivated.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Miao Lu, Chao Meng, Bing Zhang, Xiao Wang, Junhua Tian, Guangpeng Tang, Wen Wang, Na Li, Mengyao Li, Xiaoyu Xu, Yue Sun, Chengyu Duan, Xincheng Qin, Kun Li
Summary: In this study, ticks collected from Guizhou Province, China were screened for Rickettsiales bacteria. Two spotted fever group Rickettsia species and one Candidatus Lariskella species were identified. These findings are important for understanding the bacteria and areas in China that have not been investigated.
Article
Entomology
Adem Keskin, Kiraz Erciyas-Yavuz
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Entomology
Adem Keskin, Jean-Claude Beaucournu
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Entomology
Adem Keskin
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Entomology
Bilal Dik, Ahmet Yesari Selcuk, Haluk Kefelioglu, Adem Keskin
TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2019)
Article
Entomology
Adem Keskin, Bilal Dik, Mustafa Karatepe, Bilge Karatepe
TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2020)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Gonul Arslan Akveran, Djursun Karasartova, Adem Keskin, Arzu Comba, Bekir Celebi, Kosta Y. Mumcuoglu, Aysegul Taylan-Ozkan
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2020)
Article
Parasitology
Adem Keskin, Ahmet Yesari Selcuk, Haluk Kefelioglu, Jean-Claude Beaucournu
Article
Zoology
Adem Keskin, Jean-Claude Beaucournu
Article
Parasitology
Adem Keskin
Summary: A new species of ctenophthalmid flea, Ctenophthalmus (Ctenophthalmus) yesarii n. sp., was discovered in Turkey, bringing the total number of known Ctenophthalmus taxa in the country to 41. This new species belongs to the fransmiti group and is closely related to Ctenophthalmus (Ctenophthalmus) fransmiti Suciu.
PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Tugba Kul Koprulu, Salih Okten, Vildan Enisoglu Atalay, Saban Tekin, Osman Cakmak
Summary: This study investigated the antiproliferative properties of substituted quinoline and tetrahydroquinolines against different cancer cell lines, finding that 6,8-dibromotetrahydroquinoline 3 showed activity against all tested cell lines while morpholine/piperazine substituted quinoline 7 and 8 exhibited selective antiproliferative activity. Additionally, compound 3 caused DNA fragmentation, compound 8 inhibited Topoisomerase I enzyme activity, and the different compounds had varying effects on apoptosis and antiproliferative mechanisms.
Article
Entomology
Adem Keskin, Ahmet Yesari Selcuk
Summary: This study investigated tick infestations on wild mammals in different locations of Turkey, identifying various tick species and host associations, thus enriching the understanding of tick ecology in Turkey.
SYSTEMATIC AND APPLIED ACAROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Kosta Y. Mumcuoglu, Gonul Arslan-Akveran, Sabiha Aydogdu, Djursun Karasartova, Ali Kosar, Unsal Savci, Adem Keskin, Aysegul Taylan-Ozkan
Summary: Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato and Rhipicephalus turanicus are prevalent in Israel and known to transmit various pathogens. This study identified multiple bacterial and protozoal pathogens carried by these ticks, some of which were reported for the first time in Israel.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Tugba Kul Koprulu, Burcin Erkal, Altan Kara, Saban Tekin
Summary: Royal jelly plays a critical role in honey bee life and can potentially cause changes in cancer cells through epigenetic modifications. DNA methylation, one of the epigenetic mechanisms, is closely related to many diseases, especially cancer. This study investigated the effects of royal jelly on DNA methylation and gene expression in human cancer cell lines.
Article
Parasitology
Ayse Semra Gureser, Atakan Comba, Djursun Karasartova, Nezahat Kosar, Adem Keskin, Christen Rune Stensvold, Aysegul Taylan-Ozkan
Summary: In a study conducted in Turkey, the prevalence of Blastocystis and its subtypes were investigated in children with celiac disease or functional abdominal pain. The study found no difference in Blastocystis prevalence among the three study groups, and the prevalence and subtypes were not related to demographic, socioeconomic, and epidemiological factors.
IRANIAN JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Feyzanur Yildirimtepe-Caldiran, Adem Keskin, Ahmet Bursali, Saban Tekin
Summary: The study revealed a variety of pathogenic bacteria carried by tick vectors in the Black Sea coast of Turkey, with a higher occurrence of spotted fever group Rickettsia than expected. It is recommended to be vigilant for patients with tick bites in the Black Sea region.
ACTA ZOOLOGICA BULGARICA
(2021)