Virome diversity of ticks collected from camels in the United Arab Emirates.

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Viruses are important components of the microbiome of ticks. Ticks are capable of transmitting several serious viral diseases to humans and animals. Hitherto, the composition of viral communities in ticks associated with camels in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remains unexplored. This study aimed to characterize the RNA virome diversity in male and female ticks collected from camels in Al Ain, UAE.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We collected ticks, extracted, and sequenced RNA, using Illumina (NovaSeq 6000) and Oxford Nanopore (MinION).

RESULTS

From the total generated sequencing reads, 180,559 (0.35%) and 197,801 (0.34%) reads were identified as virus-related reads in male and female tick samples, respectively. Taxonomic assignment of the viral sequencing reads was accomplished based on bioinformatic analyses. Further, viral reads were classified into 39 viral families. Poxiviridae, Phycodnaviridae, Phenuiviridae, Mimiviridae, and Polydnaviridae were the most abundant families in the tick viromes. Notably, we assembled the genomes of three RNA viruses, which were placed by phylogenetic analyses in clades that included the Bole tick virus.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this study attempts to elucidate the RNA virome of ticks associated with camels in the UAE and the results obtained from this study improve the knowledge of the diversity of viruses in ticks.