Researchers found that tiny mites called chiggers in North Carolina carry diverse bacterial communities, and both the region where chiggers live and whether they're infected with a disease-causing microbe called Orientia shape which bacteria they host. Some of those bacteria are potentially harmful to humans.
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Three chigger species were identified across North Carolina's ecoregions, with Eutrombicula splendens showing significant microbiome variation by collection site.
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E. splendens infected with Orientia had higher abundance of Brevibacillus and Telluria, while uninfected individuals had more Methylobacterium.
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Potentially pathogenic genera including Rickettsia, Listeria, Legionella, Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus were detected in chigger microbiomes.
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