Unveiling the Bacteriome of Fleas associated to Domestic and Wild Animals

• Grant number: 24/20336-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: March 03, 2025
• End date: September 02, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Rogério André
• Grantee: Michelli Inácio Gonçalves Funnicelli
• Supervisor: Olivier Duron
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Université Montpellier 2, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/16710-9 - UNRAVELLING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN Bartonella spp. AND ARTHROPOD-VECTORS BY "OMICS" APPROACHES, BP.PD

Abstract

Fleas are common ectoparasites that inhabit diverse ecological niches, and certain species, such as Ctenocephalides felis, play significant roles as vectors for zoonotic pathogens, including Bartonella and Rickettsia. Recent studies have highlighted the impact of the flea microbiome on pathogen transmission dynamics, suggesting that the associated microbial community may influence a flea's susceptibility to infection and modulate immune responses, potentially affecting pathogen prevalence. This projectaims to investigate the composition and diversity of the bacteriome associated with different flea species (Ctenocephalides felis, Polygenis sp., and Tunga penetrans), collected from domestic and wild animals. Through next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene, the bacterial communities present in fleas will be identified, assessing bacterial diversity and exploring potential microbial interactions, including co-occurrences between Bartonella, Wolbachia, Rickettsia, and other microbiome members. The study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the structure and dynamics of the microbiome associated with different flea species.