Vector Specificity of the Relapsing Fever Spirochete Borrelia hermsii (Spirochaetales: Borreliaceae) for the Tick Ornithodoros hermsi (Acari: Argasidae) Involves Persistent Infection of the Salivary Glands

Abstract

The relapsing fever spirochetes Borrelia hermsii and Borrelia turicatae are each maintained and transmitted in nature by their specific tick vectors, Ornithodoros hermsi Wheeler (Acari: Argasidae) and Ornithodoros turicata (Duges), respectively. The basis for this spirochete and vector specificity is not known, but persistent colonization of spirochetes in the tick's salivary glands is presumed to be essential for transmission by these long-lived ticks that feed in only minutes on their warm-blooded hosts. To examine this hypothesis further, cohorts of O. hermsi and O. turicata were infected with B. hermsii and examined 7-260 d later for infection in their midgut, salivary glands, and synganglion. While the midgut from all ticks of both species at all time points examined were infected with spirochetes, the salivary glands of only O. hermsi remained persistently infected. The salivary glands of O. turicata were susceptible to an early transient infection. However, no spirochetes were observed in these tissues beyond the first 32 d after acquisition. Ticks of both species were fed on mice 112 d after they acquired spirochetes and only those mice fed upon by O. hermsi became infected. Thus, the vector competency for B. hermsii displayed by O. hermsi but not O. turicata lies, in part, in the persistent infection of the salivary glands of the former but not the latter species of tick. The genetic and biochemical mechanisms supporting this spirochete and vector specificity remain to be identified.