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Tick-borne microorganisms are a serious hazard, but not much research has been done on tick-borne viruses up until now, especially in Belgium. This project aims to gather ticks from across Belgium and identify the (pathogenic) microorganisms within ticks using metagenomic sequencing. This approach can potentially describe viruses that were previously unknown as well as those that are entirely novel. On the other side, amplicon targeted sequencing, which amplifies a single specific region, the 16S rRNA, is used to identify the bacteria more specifically. In the literature study, the justification is made of how ticks are subdivided, also the key distinctions between the families are discussed. Consequently, it's essential to understand the lifecycle of the tick and how to determine gender. Additionally, more detailed information regarding Ixodes ricinus, the most abundant tick species in Belgium, is provided. Finally, a brief discussion of the methodologies used in tick research is presented such as… and a comparison is made of the most significant techniques (SISPA and WTA) that are used to assist us in achieving our goal are presented. Results revealed a predominance of nymphs over adults, with over 96% of ticks being nymphs. Comparison between Whole Transcriptome Amplification (WTA) and Sequence-Independent Single Primer Amplification (SISPA) methods showed higher total reads generated by SISPA. Analysis of viral species identified Grotenhout virus and Tick alphatetra virus as abundant, along with other viruses such as Norway mononegavirus, Bronnoya virus, Norway partiti-like virus, and Leuven phlebovirus. Additionally, bacterial profiling identified Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Neoehrlichia mikurensis, various Borrelia species, Rickettsia species, and Coxiella burnetii among others. Despite challenges in generating 16S amplicon sequencing data, insights into the bacterial microbiome were gathered from the SISPA data. These findings contribute to our understanding of tick-borne disease dynamics and underscore the importance of ongoing surveillance efforts to mitigate emerging health threats.
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