ImpactsInfection inTick Cells.

Abstract

The specific interactions of members of tick bacterial microbiota and their effects on pathogen transmission remains relatively unexplored. Here, we introduced a novelinfection type intotick cells and examined the antipathogenic effects on the intracellular pathogen. An increase inreplication was observed in-infected tick cells. However,infection densities decreased when cells were serially passaged and ultimately the infection was lost. Host-cell immune response was also examined as an additional factor that could have affectedreplication in-infected cells. In early passages post-infection, a decreased immune response was observed, but in later passages of cells with lowdensities, there was no change in the immune response. The results are discussed in relation to the importance of studying the interactions of the tick microbiota, the host cell, and the pathogen and the development of novel tick and tick-borne disease-control approaches.