Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39181959›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2024

16S rRNA metabarcoding for the identification of tick-borne bacteria in ticks in the Republic of Korea.

Badriah Alkathiri, Subin Lee, KyuSung Ahn, Yun Sang Cho, So Youn Youn, Kwangwon Seo, Rika Umemiya-Shirafuji, Xuenan Xuan, Dongmi Kwak, SungShik Shin and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Metagenomic Profile of Bacterial Communities ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Badriah AlkathiriCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea.
Subin LeeCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea.
KyuSung AhnCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 61186, Republic of Korea.
Yun Sang ChoLaboratory of Parasitic and Honeybee Diseases, Bacterial Disease Division, Department of Animal & Plant Health Research, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, 39660, Republic of Korea.
So Youn YounLaboratory of Parasitic and Honeybee Diseases, Bacterial Disease Division, Department of Animal & Plant Health Research, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, 39660, Republic of Korea.
Kwangwon SeoCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea.
Rika Umemiya-ShirafujiNational Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, 080-8555, Japan.
Xuenan XuanNational Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, 080-8555, Japan.
Dongmi KwakCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 41566, Republic of Korea.
SungShik ShinCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 61186, Republic of Korea.
Seung-Hun LeeCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea. dvmshlee@chungbuk.ac.kr.

Funding

Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency Z-1543081-2021-22-02National Research Foundation of Korea 2021R1F1A1061795
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ticks are blood-sucking ectoparasites that act as vectors for transmission of various pathogens. The purpose of this study was to assess tick-borne bacteria, whether pathogenic or not, in ticks distributed in Korea using 16S rRNA metabarcoding and to confirm the results by PCR. Questing ticks were collected from four provinces in Korea in 2021 using the flagging method. After pooling the DNAs from the 61 tick pools (including 372 ticks), the bacterial 16S rRNA V3-V4 hypervariable region was amplified and sequenced using the MiSeq platform. Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, and the endosymbiont Wolbachia were confirmed by conventional PCR and molecular analysis. In total, 6907 ticks (534 pools) were collected and identified as belonging to five species (Haemaphysalis spp., H. longicornis, H. flava, I. nipponensis, and A. testudinarium). Through 16S rRNA metabarcoding, 240 amplicon sequence variants were identified. The dominant taxa were Rickettsiella and Coxiella. Additionally, pathogenic bacteria such as Rickettsia and Ehrlichia, endosymbiotic bacteria such as Wolbachia and Spiroplasma were identified. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to confirm the presence of Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Bartonella, and Wolbachia in individual ticks. Overall, 352 (65.92%) of 534 pools tested positive for at least one of the screened tick-borne bacteria. Rickettsia was the most prevalent (61.42%), followed by Wolbachia (5.05%). Ehrlichia was detected in 4.86% of tested samples, whereas Bartonella was not detected. In this study, 16S rRNA metabarcoding revealed the presence of Rickettsia, Wolbachia, and Ehrlichia, in that order of abundance, while showing absence of Bartonella. These results were confirmed to exhibit the same trend as that of the conventional PCR. Therefore, large-scale screening studies based on pooling, as applied in this study, will be useful for examining novel or rare pathogens present in various hosts and vectors.

Indexed as

BacteriaDNA Barcoding, TaxonomicRNA, Ribosomal, 16STicksAnimalsDNA, BacterialPhylogenyRepublic of KoreaRickettsiaWolbachiaDNA, BacterialRNA, Ribosomal, 16SArthropodEndosymbiontNext-generation sequencingTickTick-borne bacteriaTick-borne pathogen

Identifiers

PMID39181959
PMCPMC11344767

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.