Abstract
Bats are an important reservoir for many viral pathogens in humans. However, their role in the transmission of bacterial pathogens is neglected, as is that of their ectoparasites. This study focuses on the molecular detection of Bartonella spp. in bat bugs Cimex pipistrelli using partial sequences of gltA (citrate synthase), ssrA (transfer messenger RNA, tmRNA), and the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region as targets. Bartonella DNA was detected in 2/112 (1.79% prevalence) samples from bat bugs. Due to the fact that bat bugs can sporadically bite humans, more extensive surveillance and vector competence studies are needed to ascertain zoonotic risk of bat-associated Bartonella spp.
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Data availability
Data supporting the conclusions of this article are included within the article. Representative DNA sequences have been deposited in the GenBank database under the accession numbers (OM501582; OM501583; OM514677; OM514678; OM514679). All the sequences and their accession numbers included in the phylogenetic analysis are provided as supplementary data.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Tomas Bartonicka for sampling and determination of bat bugs.
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The study was financially supported by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic (Reg. No. NU21-05-00143).
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IR, CM, and RK designed the study. RK and PS carried out basic molecular analysis, JM performed the sequence analysis, and CM designed the phylograms and performed the corresponding data interpretation. RK, IR, SŠ, and CM drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript version.
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Fig. S1
Phylogenetic relationships between (A) Bartonella citrate synthase (gltA) sequences, (B) 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences, and (C) transfer-messenger RNA (ssrA) sequences. Separate groups, including new sequences detected in bat bugs, are indicated by distinct symbols. The maximum likelihood trees were inferred using a GTR+F+R6 model for gltA, a TN+F+R7 model for ITS, and a TIM2e+I+G4 for ssrA in IQ-TREE v2.1.1. Numbers next to nodes indicate the percent bootstrap support after 1000 replicates. Branch lengths are in units of substitutions per site. (PNG 3427 kb)
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Kejíková, R., McKee, C., Straková, P. et al. First detection of Bartonella spp. in bat bugs Cimex pipistrelli (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), Central Europe. Parasitol Res 121, 3341–3345 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07668-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07668-4