Torix Rickettsia are widespread in arthropods and reflect a neglected symbiosis
Authors:
Pilgrim, Jack Thongprem, Panupong Davison, Helen Siozios, Stefanos Baylis, Matthew Zakharov, Evgeny V. Ratnasingham, Sujeevan DeWaard, Jeremy R. Smith, M. Alex Hurst, Gregory D. D.
Abstract:
Rickettsia are intracellular bacteria best known as the causative agents of human and animal diseases. Although these medically important Rickettsia are often transmitted via haematophagous arthropods, other Rickettsia, such as those in the Torix group, appear to reside exclusively in invertebrates and protists with no secondary vertebrate host. Importantly, little is known about the diversity or host range of Torix group Rickettsia. This study describes the serendipitous discovery of Rickettsia amplicons in the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD), a sequence database specifically designed for the curation of mtDNA barcodes. Out of 184,585 barcode sequences analysed, Rickettsia is observed in approximately 0.41% of barcode submissions and is more likely to be found than Wolbachia (0.17%). The Torix group of Rickettsia are shown to account for 95% of all unintended amplifications from the genus, with a multilocus analysis of these strains revealing this symbiont commonly shifts between distantly related host taxa. A further targeted PCR screen of 1,612 individuals from 169 terrestrial and aquatic arthropod species identified mostly Torix strains (14/16) and supports the “aquatic hotspot” hypothesis for Torix infection. Furthermore, the analysis of Sequence Read Archive (SRA) deposits indicates Torix infections represent a significant proportion of all Rickettsia symbioses. This combination of methods reveals a broad host diversity associated with Torix Rickettsia including phloem-feeding bugs, parasitoid wasps, forest detritivores and vectors of disease. The unknown host effects and transmission strategies of these endosymbionts makes these newly discovered associations important to inform future directions of investigation involving the understudied Torix Rickettsia.
Journal:
GigaScience