Data from: Assessment of bacterial diversity in the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus through tag-encoded pyrosequencing

The objective of this study was to explore the R. microplus microbiome by applying the bacterial 16S tag-encoded FLX-titanium amplicon pyrosequencing (bTEFAP) technique to characterize its bacterial diversity.

Pyrosequencing was performed on adult males and females, eggs, and gut and ovary tissues from adult females derived from samples of R. microplus collected during outbreaks in southern Texas. Raw data from bTEFAP were screened and trimmed based upon quality scores and binned into individual sample collections. Bacteria identified to the species level include Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus chromogenes, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Staphylococcus sciuri, Serratia marcescens, Corynebacterium glutamicum, and Finegoldia magna. One hundred twenty-one bacterial genera were detected in all the life stages and tissues sampled. The total number of genera identified by tick sample comprised: 53 in adult males, 61 in adult females, 11 in gut tissue, 7 in ovarian tissue, and 54 in the eggs. Notable genera detected in the cattle tick include Wolbachia, Coxiella, and Borrelia. The molecular approach applied in this study allowed us to assess the relative abundance of the microbiota associated with R. microplus.

Ticks are regarded as the most relevant vectors of disease-causing pathogens in domestic and wild animals. The cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, hinders livestock production in tropical and subtropical parts of the world where it is endemic. Tick microbiomes remain largely unexplored.

• Resource Title: Table 1: Estimated operational taxonomic units in samples of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus through Rarefaction, Ace, and Chao1. .

  File Name: Table 1_Estimated operational taxonomic units in samples of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus through Rarefaction, Ace, and Chao1.xlsx




• Resource Title: Table 1_Estimated operational taxonomic units in samples of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus through Rarefaction, Ace, and Chao1_0.

  File Name: Table 1_Estimated operational taxonomic units in samples of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus through Rarefaction, Ace, and Chao1_0.csv

  Resource Description: Rarefaction values are averaged for adult male and female (n = 2), and egg (n = 3) samples.

  Andreotti et al. BMC Microbiology 2011 11:6   doi:10.1186/1471-2180-11-6




• Resource Title: Data Dictionary, Tables 1 and S1.

  File Name: CattleTickBacterialDiversity_DataDictionary.csv

  Resource Description: Machine readable CSV defines variables, sample sources for bacterial richness and diversity based on Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU).




• Resource Title: Additional file 1. Table S1 - Bacterial genera detected in R. (B.) microplus. Bacterial genera detected in R. (B.) microplus samples..

  File Name: 12866_2010_1293_MOESM1_ESM.PDF

  Resource Description: Automatic PDF file download. Detection sites: AF ‐ Adult Female Tick; AM ‐ Adult Male Tick; EG ‐ Egg; GT ‐ Adult Female Gut; OV ‐ Ovary.

  https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art:10.1186/1471-2180-11-6/MediaObjects/12866_2010_1293_MOESM1_ESM.PDF