Journal of Medical Entomology (2017) 54, 422-428

Gilian van Duijvendijk, Wouter van Andel, Manoj Fonville, Gerrit Gort, Joppe W. Hovius, Hein Sprong and Willem Takken (2017)
A Borrelia afzelii infection increases larval tick burden on Myodes glareolus (Rodentia: Cricetidae) and nymphal body weight of Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae)
Journal of Medical Entomology 54 (2), 422-428
Abstract: Several microorganisms have been shown to manipulate their host or vector to enhance their own transmission. Here we examined whether an infection with Borrelia afzelii affects its transmission between its bank vole (Myodes glareolus, Schreber, 1780) host and tick vector. Captive-bred bank voles were inoculated with B. afzelii or control medium, after which host preference of Ixodes ricinus L. nymphs was determined in a Y-tube olfactometer. Thereafter, infected and uninfected bank voles were placed in a semifield arena containing questing larvae to measure larval tick attachment. Engorged larvae were collected from these bank voles, molted into nymphs, weighed, and analyzed for infection by PCR.
Nymphs were attracted to the odors of a bank vole compared to ambient air and preferred the odors of an infected bank vole over that of an uninfected bank vole. In the semifield arena, infected male bank voles had greater larval tick burdens then uninfected males, while similar larval tick burdens were observed on females regardless of infection status. Nymphal ticks that acquired a B. afzelii infection had higher body weight than nymphs that did not acquire an infection regardless of the infection status of the vole. These results show that a B. afzelii infection in bank voles increases larval tick burden and that a B. afzelii infection in larvae increases nymphal body weight. This finding provides novel ecological insights into the enzootic cycle of B. afzelii.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Willem Takken

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ixodes ricinus
	Myodes glareolus