ArticlePLoS pathogens2015
The Recent Evolution of a Maternally-Inherited Endosymbiont of Ticks Led to the Emergence of the Q Fever Pathogen, Coxiella burnetii.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 165 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
165 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 286 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- A compilation of ticks and tick-borne pathogen distributions in seven countries within North and West Africa from 1901 to 2022: a systematic literature review.Parasites & vectors · 2025Pooled it
- The Prevalence ofFrontiers in veterinary science · 2021Pooled it
- Systematic review ofOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2026Review
- Genomic Evolution of Francisella: Metabolic Innovation, Endosymbiotic Transitions to Ticks, and Biogeographic History.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- The bacterial march toward symbiosis: on-ramps and off-ramps.Trends in microbiology · 2026Review
- Feeding-state is associated with shifts in the Haemaphysalis bispinosa microbiome and its potential as a sentinel for circulating livestock pathogens.Veterinary research communications · 2026Article
- Coevolution of Codependent Hosts and Symbionts.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Pilot metaproteomic profiling reveals bacterial diversity and potential medical and veterinary relevance of tick microbiomes in northern Algeria.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Molecular Detection ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Ticks and Tick-Borne Microorganisms in Australian Wildlife: A Scoping One Health Evidence Synthesis of Reported Associations and Knowledge Gaps.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Stepwise assembly of virulence-associated traits in the intracellular pathogenbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Q fever in Kazakhstan: seroepidemiology, molecular evidence, and spatial distribution across livestock and ticks.BMC veterinary research · 2026Article
- Molecular screening for Rickettsia, Anaplasma, and Coxiella in head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) collected from primary school girls in Fars Province, Iran (2024).BMC research notes · 2026Article
- Genetic Diversity and Novel Lineages ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Transcriptome of Coxiella-like endosymbionts in Haemaphysalis longicornis during blood feeding.The Journal of veterinary medical science · 2026Article
- Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) harbor non-divergent bacterial microbiomes in Arizona.Journal of medical entomology · 2026Article
- First evidence of naturally vertically transmitted Coxiella-like endosymbionts in Haemaphysalis bispinosa from dairy cattle in Indonesia.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Coxiella burnetii in free-living feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in Brazil.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2026Article
105 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
26 authors at 10 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Q fever is a highly infectious disease with a worldwide distribution. Its causative agent, the intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii, infects a variety of vertebrate species, including humans. Its evolutionary origin remains almost entirely unknown and uncertainty persists regarding the identity and lifestyle of its ancestors. A few tick species were recently found to harbor maternally-inherited Coxiella-like organisms engaged in symbiotic interactions, but their relationships to the Q fever pathogen remain unclear. Here, we extensively sampled ticks, identifying new and atypical Coxiella strains from 40 of 58 examined species, and used this data to infer the evolutionary processes leading to the emergence of C. burnetii. Phylogenetic analyses of multi-locus typing and whole-genome sequencing data revealed that Coxiella-like organisms represent an ancient and monophyletic group allied to ticks. Remarkably, all known C. burnetii strains originate within this group and are the descendants of a Coxiella-like progenitor hosted by ticks. Using both colony-reared and field-collected gravid females, we further establish the presence of highly efficient maternal transmission of these Coxiella-like organisms in four examined tick species, a pattern coherent with an endosymbiotic lifestyle. Our laboratory culture assays also showed that these Coxiella-like organisms were not amenable to culture in the vertebrate cell environment, suggesting different metabolic requirements compared to C. burnetii. Altogether, this corpus of data demonstrates that C. burnetii recently evolved from an inherited symbiont of ticks which succeeded in infecting vertebrate cells, likely by the acquisition of novel virulence factors.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.