Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, China.
Xuzhou Central Hospital, 131 Huanchen Road, Xuzhou, 221009, China.
Virol J. 2021 Aug 9;18(1):163. doi: 10.1186/s12985-021-01632-x.
Ticks (class Arachnida, subclass Acari) are vectors of transmitting a broad range of pathogenic microorganisms, protozoa, and viruses affecting humans and animals. Liaoning Province is rich in forests where different animals and, abundant Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks exist.
Using viral metagenomics, we analyzed the virome in 300 Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks collected from June to August 2015 in the forested region of Liaoning Province, China.
From the 300 ticks, 1,218,388 high-quality reads were generated, of which 5643 (0.463%) reads showed significant sequence identity to known viruses. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis revealed that viral sequences showing a close relationship with Dabieshan tick virus, Aleutian mink disease virus, adeno-associated virus, Gokushovirus, avian gyrovirus 2 were present in the virome of these ticks. However, the significance of these viruses to human and animal health requires further investigation. Notably, an hepe-like virus, named tick-borne hepe-like virus sequence, was obtained and was highly prevalent in these ticks with a rate of 50%. Nevertheless, one constraint of our study was the limited geographical distribution of the sampled ticks.
Our study offers an overview of the virome in ticks from a forest region of Liaoning Province and provides further awareness of the viral diversity of ticks.
蜱虫（蛛形纲，蜱螨亚纲）是传播影响人类和动物的多种病原微生物、原生动物和病毒的媒介。辽宁省森林资源丰富，存在大量不同的动物和长角血蜱。
我们利用病毒宏基因组学，对 2015 年 6 月至 8 月采集于辽宁省林区的 300 只长角血蜱中的病毒组进行了分析。
从 300 只蜱虫中共产生了 1218388 条高质量的读取序列，其中 5643 条（0.463%）读取序列与已知病毒具有显著的序列同一性。序列和系统发育分析显示，与大别山蜱病毒、阿留申病病毒、腺相关病毒、Gokushovirus、禽回转病毒 2 密切相关的病毒序列存在于这些蜱虫的病毒组中。然而，这些病毒对人类和动物健康的意义需要进一步研究。值得注意的是，我们从这些蜱虫中获得了一种与庚型肝炎病毒（hepe-like virus）高度相似的病毒，命名为 tick-borne hepe-like virus sequence，该病毒在这些蜱虫中高度流行，检出率为 50%。然而，本研究的一个局限性是采样蜱虫的地理分布有限。
本研究概述了辽宁省林区蜱虫的病毒组，进一步提高了对蜱虫病毒多样性的认识。
