ArticlePathogens and global health2012
Humans parasitized by the hard tick Ixodes ricinus are seropositive to Midichloria mitochondrii: is Midichloria a novel pathogen, or just a marker of tick bite?
Article in Pathogens and global health, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed.
- Microorganisms inInternational journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2026Article
- Genome-resolved metagenomics reveals unexpected diversity and host range of Candidatus Lariskella (Rickettsiales: Midichloriaceae).BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Infection by Tickborne Bacterium Candidatus Midichloria Associated with First Trimester Pregnancy Loss, Tennessee, USA.Emerging infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Metatranscriptomics provide insights into the role of the symbiont Midichloria mitochondrii in Ixodes ticks.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2024Article
- Article
- Tick-borne pathogens of zoonotic and veterinary importance in cattle ticks in Ghana.Parasitology research · 2023Article
- Cross-alteration of murine skin and tick microbiome concomitant with pathogen transmission after Ixodes ricinus bite.Microbiome · 2023Article
- Metagenome diversity illuminates origins of pathogen effectors.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- The Biological and Ecological Features of Northbound Migratory Birds, Ticks, and Tick-Borne Microorganisms in the African-Western Palearctic.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- Detection of Endosymbiont Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii and Tickborne Pathogens in Humans Exposed to Tick Bites, Italy.Emerging infectious diseases · 2022Article
- The Genetic Diversity of Rickettsiella Symbionts in Ixodes ricinus Throughout Europe.Microbial ecology · 2022Article
- Co-Occurrence ofMicroorganisms · 2022Article
- Tick exposure and risk of tick-borne pathogens infection in hunters and hunting dogs: a citizen science approach.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2022Article
- The "Other"Applied and environmental microbiology · 2022Review
- What do we know about the microbiome ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
- The Symbiotic Continuum Within Ticks: Opportunities for Disease Control.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Review
- The bacterial biome of ticks and their wildlife hosts at the urban-wildland interface.Microbial genomics · 2021Article
- Article
- Induced Transient Immune Tolerance in Ticks and Vertebrate Host: A Keystone of Tick-Borne Diseases?Frontiers in immunology · 2021Review
- General Microbiota of the Soft TickBiology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Midichloria mitochondrii is an intracellular bacterium found in the hard tick Ixodes ricinus. In this arthropod, M. mitochondrii is observed in the oocytes and in other cells of the ovary, where the symbiont is present in the cell cytoplasm and inside the mitochondria. No studies have so far investigated whether M. mitochondrii is present in the salivary glands of the tick and whether it is transmitted to vertebrates during the tick blood meal. To address the above issues, we developed a recombinant antigen of M. mitochondrii (to screen human sera) and antibodies against this antigen (for the staining of the symbiont). Using these reagents we show that (i) M. mitochondrii is present in the salivary glands of I. ricinus and that (ii) seropositivity against M. mitochondrii is highly prevalent in humans parasitized by I. ricinus (58%), while it is very low in healthy individuals (1·2%). These results provide evidence that M. mitochondrii is released with the tick saliva and raise the possibility that M. mitochondrii is infectious to vertebrates. Besides this, our study indicates that M. mitochondrii should be regarded as a package of antigens inoculated into the human host during the tick bite. This implies that the immunology of the response toward the saliva of I. ricinus is to be reconsidered on the basis of potential effects of M. mitochondrii and poses the basis for the development of novel markers for investigating the exposure of humans and animals to this tick species.
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