Molecular detection of infection in field-collected bed bugs.

Bed bugs are now one of the most prevalent human-associated, blood-feeding pests in the urban world, but few studies of their association with human pathogens have been conducted since their resurgence. Here, we used PCR to screen samples of field-collected bed bugs ( spp.) for the presence of bacteria and we describe the first detection of an uncharacterized in in nature. was detected in 5/39 (12.8%) of the bed bug samples tested. In particular, three pools from the USA and two individual insects from the UK were positive for DNA. Sequencing and analysis of a fragment of the citrate synthase gene () from positive samples from each country revealed that the detected in both were identical and were closely related to a previously detected in the rat flea . Additional experiments indicated that the localizes to multiple tissues in the bed bug and reaches high titres. Attempts were made to infect mammalian cells in culture but these efforts were inconclusive. Our findings suggest that are secondary endosymbionts of bed bugs and have potential implications for both bed bug control and public health. However, further investigation is required to determine the pathogenicity of this , its transmission mechanisms, and its contributions to bed bug physiology.