Journal article
Evaluation of the bacterial microbiome of two flea species using different DNA-isolation techniques provides insights into flea host ecology
AL Lawrence, SF Hii, R Chong, CE Webb, R Traub, G Brown, J Šlapeta
FEMS Microbiology Ecology | Published : 2015
Abstract
Fleas (Siphonaptera) are ubiquitous blood-sucking pests of animals worldwide and are vectors of zoonotic bacteria such as Rickettsia and Bartonella. We performed Ion Torrent PGM amplicon sequencing for the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to compare the microbiome of the ubiquitous cat flea (Ctenocephalides f. felis) and the host-specific echidna stickfast flea (Echidnophaga a. ambulans) and evaluated potential bias produced during common genomic DNA-isolation methods. We demonstrated significant differences in the bacterial community diversity between the two flea species but not between protocols combining surface sterilisation with whole flea homogenisation or exoskeleton retention. Both flea spec..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The study was supported by the Faculty of Veterinary Science Intramural Collaboration Fellowship with The Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity (MBI), University of Sydney. ALL is supported by the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) and the University of Sydney alumni scholarship and was a recipient of the Australian Society for Parasitology (ASP) Network Researcher Exchange, Training and Travel Award and JD Smyth Postgraduate Travel Award, the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) National Taxonomy Research Grant Program and the University of Sydney Grants-In-Aid. RC work was in part supported by Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney Honours support funds. RJT and SFH, the research was supported from grants provided by Bayer Animal Health and Australian Research Council.