Morphology, Evolution, and Host Associations of Bee-Associated Mites of the Family Chaetodactylidae (Acari: Astigmata) with a monographic revision of North American taxa

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110995/1/Bee Mites.pdfDescription of Bee Mites.pdf : Main Pape

Populations of Stored Product Mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae Differ in Their Bacterial Communities

Citation: Erban, T., Klimov, P. B., Smrz, J., Phillips, T. W., Nesvorna, M., Kopecky, J., & Hubert, J. (2016). Populations of Stored Product Mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae Differ in Their Bacterial Communities. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7, 19. doi:10.3389/fmich.2015.01046Background: Tyrophagus putrescentiae colonizes different human-related habitats and feeds on various post harvest foods. The microbiota acquired by these mites can influence the nutritional plasticity in different populations. We compared the bacterial communities of five populations of T putrescentiae and one mixed population of T putrescentiae and T fanetzhangorum collected from different habitats. Material: The bacterial communities of the six mite populations from different habitats and diets were compared by Sanger sequencing of cloned 16S rRNA obtained from amplification with universal eubacterial primers and using bacterial taxon-specific primers on the samples of adults/juveniles or eggs. Microscopic techniques were used to localize bacteria in food boli and mite bodies. The morphological determination of the mite populations was confirmed by analyses of CO1 and ITS fragment genes. Results: The following symbiotic bacteria were found in compared mite populations: Wolbachia (two populations), Cardiniurn (five populations), Bartonella-like (five populations), Blattabacteriurn-like symbiont (three populations), and Solitalea-like (six populations). From 35 identified OTUs97, only Solitalea was identified in all populations. The next most frequent and abundant sequences were Bacillus, Moraxella, Staphylococcus, Kocuria, and Microbacteriurn. We suggest that some bacterial species may occasionally be ingested with food. The bacteriocytes were observed in some individuals in all mite populations. Bacteria were not visualized in food boli by staining, but bacteria were found by histological means in ovaria of Wolbachia infested populations. Conclusion: The presence of Blattabacterium-like, Cardinium, Wolbachia, and Solitalea like in the eggs of T putrescentiae indicates mother to offspring (vertical) transmission. Results of this study indicate that diet and habitats influence not only the ingested bacteria but also the symbiotic bacteria of T putrescentiae

Improved tRNA prediction in the American house dust mite reveals widespread occurrence of extremely short minimal tRNAs in acariform mites

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Atypical tRNAs are functional minimal tRNAs, lacking either the D- or T-arm. They are significantly shorter than typical cloverleaf tRNAs. Widespread occurrence of atypical tRNAs was first demonstrated for secernentean nematodes and later in various arachnids. Evidence started to accumulate that tRNAs of certain acariform mites are even shorter than the minimal tRNAs of nematodes, raising the possibility that tRNAs lacking both D- and T-arms might exist in these organisms. The presence of cloverleaf tRNAs in acariform mites, particularly in the house dust mite genus <it>Dermatophagoides</it>, is still disputed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mitochondrial tRNAs of <it>Dermatophagoides farinae </it>are minimal, atypical tRNAs lacking either the T- or D-arm. The size (49-62, 54.4 ± 2.86 nt) is significantly (p = 0.019) smaller than in <it>Caenorhabditis elegans </it>(53-63, 56.3 ± 2.30 nt), a model minimal tRNA taxon. The shortest tRNA (49 nt) in <it>Dermatophagoides </it>is approaching the length of the shortest known tRNAs (45-49 nt) described in other acariform mites. The D-arm is absent in these tRNAs, and the inferred T-stem is small (2-3 bp) and thermodynamically unstable, suggesting that it may not exist in reality. The discriminator nucleotide is probably not encoded and is added postranscriptionally in many <it>Dermatophagoides </it>tRNAs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Mitochondrial tRNAs of acariform mites are largely atypical, non-cloverleaf tRNAs. Among them, the shortest known tRNAs with no D-arm and a short and unstable T-arm can be inferred. While our study confirmed seven tRNAs in <it>Dermatophagoides </it>by limited EST data, further experimental evidence is needed to demonstrate extremely small and unusual tRNAs in acariform mites.</p

Cox1 barcoding versus multilocus species delimitation: validation of two mite species with contrasting effective population sizes

Abstract Background The cox1-barcoding approach is currently extensively used for high-throughput species delimitation and discovery. However, this method has several limitations, particularly when organisms have large effective population sizes. Paradoxically, most common, abundant, and widely distributed species may be misclassified by this technique. Results We conducted species delimitation analyses for two host-specific lineages of scab mites of the genus Caparinia, having small population sizes. Cox1 divergence between these lineages was high (7.4–7.8%) while that of nuclear genes was low (0.06–0.53%). This system was contrasted with the medically important American house dust mite, Dermatophagoides farinae, a globally distributed species with very large population size. This species has two distinct, sympatric cox1 lineages with 4.2% divergence. We tested several species delimitation algorithms PTP, GMYC, ABGD, BPP, STACEY and PHRAPL, which inferred different species boundaries for these entities. Notably, STACEY recovered the Caparinia lineages as two species and D. farinae as a single species. BPP agreed with these results when the prior on ancestral effective population sizes was set to expected values, although delimitation of Caparinia was still equivocal. No other cox1 species delimitation algorithms inferred D. farinae as a single species, despite the fact that the nuclear CPW2 gene shows some evidence for introgression between the cox1 groups. This indicates that the cox1-barcoding approach may result in excessive species splitting. Conclusions Our research highlights the importance of using nuclear genes and demographic characteristics to infer species boundaries rather than relying on a single-gene barcoding approach, particularly for putative species having large effective population sizes.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146770/1/13071_2018_Article_3242.pd

Host specificity and multivariate diagnostics of cryptic species in predacious cheyletid mites of the genus Cheletophyes (Acari: Cheyletidae) associated with large carpenter bees

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72537/1/j.1095-8312.2006.00554.x.pd

MUSEUM SPECIMENS AND PHYLOGENIES ELUCIDATE ECOLOGY'S ROLE IN COEVOLUTIONARY ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN MITES AND THEIR BEE HOSTS

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74970/1/j.1558-5646.2007.00119.x.pd

Two Populations of Mites (Tyrophagus putrescentiae) Differ in Response to Feeding on Feces-Containing Diets

Background:Tyrophagus putrescentiae is a ubiquitous mite species in soil, stored products and house dust and infests food and causes allergies in people. T. putrescentiae populations harbor different bacterial communities, including intracellular symbionts and gut bacteria. The spread of microorganisms via the fecal pellets of T. putrescentiae is a possibility that has not been studied in detail but may be an important means by which gut bacteria colonize subsequent generations of mites. Feces in soil may be a vector for the spread of microorganisms.Methods: Extracts from used mite culture medium (i.e., residual food, mite feces, and dead mite bodies) were used as a source of feces-inhabiting microorganisms as food for the mites. Two T. putrescentiae populations (L and P) were used for experiments, and they hosted the intracellular bacteria Cardinium and Wolbachia, respectively. The effects of the fecal fraction on respiration in a mite microcosm, mite nutrient contents, population growth and microbiome composition were evaluated.Results: Feces from the P population comprised more than 90% Bartonella-like sequences. Feces from the L population feces hosted Staphylococcus, Virgibacillus, Brevibacterium, Enterobacteriaceae, and Bacillus. The mites from the P population, but not the L population, exhibited increased bacterial respiration in the microcosms in comparison to no-mite controls. Both L- and P-feces extracts had an inhibitory effect on the respiration of the microcosms, indicating antagonistic interactions within feces-associated bacteria. The mite microbiomes were resistant to the acquisition of new bacterial species from the feces, but their bacterial profiles were affected. Feeding of P mites on P-feces-enriched diets resulted in an increase in Bartonella abundance from 6 to 20% of the total bacterial sequences and a decrease in Bacillus abundance. The population growth was fivefold accelerated on P-feces extracts in comparison to the control.Conclusion: The mite microbiome, to a certain extent, resists the acquisition of new bacteria when mites are fed on feces of the same species. However, a Bartonella-like bacteria-feces-enriched diet seems to be beneficial for mite populations with symbiotic Bartonella-like bacteria. Coprophagy on the feces of its own population may be a mechanism of bacterial acquisition in T. putrescentiae

A review of mites and ticks parasitizing rock lizards (Lacertidae: Darevskia)

Rock lizards of the genus Darevskia are interesting research models due to their asexual reproduction. Ectoparasitic mites and ticks of these lizards are poorly known, despite some of these chelicerates being vector pathogens of humans and wildlife. Here we document and curate previously known data on ectoparasitic Acari of rock lizards and, based on our extensive survey, provide an annotated list of these ectoparasitic arthropods (six tick species, one macronyssid species, and seven chigger species). We also provide new host records (Ixodes ricinus on Darevskia caucasica, D. dryada, D. mixta, and D. szczerbaki; Haemaphysalis sulcata on D. rudis; Odontacarus saxicolis on D. brauneri); and new geographical records (O. saxicolis in Russia and Georgia)