EAPSI: A Comparative Study of Tick-associated Viromes from Japan and the US

Fahsbender Elizabeth, St. Petersburg FL

Investigators

Abstract

Globally, ticks are one of the most important blood-feeding arthropods in the realm of disease-carrying vectors, since they are capable of transmitting a wide range of pathogens between animals and humans. Their long life cycles, expansive range, and propensity to feed on a variety of animals emphasize the importance for surveillance of their associated pathogens. Although their bacterial and protozoan communities are well described, their viral communities remain largely unknown, highlighting a significant knowledge gap. The tick-associated virome (all of the viruses associated with ticks) will be characterized as a means of proactive viral surveillance. This project will be conducted at Hokkaido University under the mentorship of Dr. Keita Matsuno, a tick-borne virus expert. Since ticks feed on a variety of hosts, vector-enabled metagenomics (characterizing the viral communities of a disease-carrying vector), will provide an effective tool for surveying viral diversity circulating within an ecosystem, in this case, Hokkaido, Japan and Florida, USA. The potential role of an endosymbiont, Rickettsia, in shaping the tick virome composition will be investigated by comparing Rickettsia-positive and Rickettsia-negative viromes. A targeted approach will explore tick-borne phleboviruses (TBPV), a genus of emerging human pathogens in Asia and the United States. Determining the prevalence and diversity of phleboviruses will provide insight into the evolution of this group of viruses. Through these approaches I expect to identify a diversity of viruses due to the expansive and diverse host range of ticks over their long life cycle, and hypothesize there is a core virome associated with the tick endosymbiont Rickettsia, that is not observed in Rickettsia-negative ticks. This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.