{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T19:39:14Z","timestamp":1768505954104,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,28]]},"group-title":"Ecology","reference-count":29,"publisher":"openRxiv","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,28]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  <jats:italic>Ornithodoros turicata<\/jats:italic>\n                  is a vector of relapsing fever (RF) spirochetes in North America and transmits\n                  <jats:italic>Borrelia turicatae<\/jats:italic>\n                  to a variety of vertebrate hosts. The remarkably long lifespan of\n                  <jats:italic>O. turicata<\/jats:italic>\n                  and its ability to maintain spirochetes horizontally (between life stages) and vertically to progeny promotes the perpetuation of\n                  <jats:italic>B. turicatae<\/jats:italic>\n                  in nature. Nevertheless, the reproductive biology of\n                  <jats:italic>O. turicata<\/jats:italic>\n                  is poorly understood. In this report, we collected ticks from a park within a neighborhood of Austin, Texas. They were reared to adulthood and male ticks were individually housed with females. We observed autogenous reproduction by the ticks and further investigated vertical transmission of\n                  <jats:italic>B. turicatae<\/jats:italic>\n                  by quantifying filial infection rates in a cohort of progeny ticks. These results indicate that\n                  <jats:italic>O. turicata<\/jats:italic>\n                  transovarially transmits\n                  <jats:italic>B. turicatae<\/jats:italic>\n                  during autogenous reproduction and further signify the tick as a natural reservoir of the spirochetes.\n                <\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Importance<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Previous research has implicated\n                    <jats:italic>Ornithodoros<\/jats:italic>\n                    ticks, including\n                    <jats:italic>Ornithodoros turicata<\/jats:italic>\n                    , as long-term reservoirs of relapsing fever (RF) spirochetes. Considering the tick\u2019s long lifespan and their efficiency in maintaining and transferring spirochetes within the population, the infection could persist in a given enzootic focus for decades. However, little is known about the relative importance of horizontal and vertical transmission routes in the persistence and evolution of RF\n                    <jats:italic>Borrelia<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Our observations on the reproductive biology of\n                    <jats:italic>O. turicata<\/jats:italic>\n                    in the absence of vertebrate hosts indicate an additional mechanism by which\n                    <jats:italic>B. turicata<\/jats:italic>\n                    can be maintained in the environment. This work establishes the foundation for studying\n                    <jats:italic>O. turicata<\/jats:italic>\n                    reproduction and spirochete-vector interactions, which will aid in devising control measures for\n                    <jats:italic>Ornithodoros<\/jats:italic>\n                    ticks and RF spirochetes.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1101\/2023.06.26.546580","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,28]],"date-time":"2023-06-28T16:11:45Z","timestamp":1687968705000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Vertical transmission of\n                  <i>Borrelia turicatae<\/i>\n                  (Spirochaetales:\n                  <i>Borreliaceae<\/i>\n                  ) by autogenously reproducing\n                  <i>Ornithodoros turicata<\/i>\n                  (Ixodida: Argasidae) female naturally infected with the spirochetes"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Serhii","family":"Filatov","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aparna","family":"Krishnavajhala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4802-5779","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Job E.","family":"Lopez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2023070311245053000_2023.06.26.546580v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.3390\/vetsci3030016","article-title":"Tick-borne relapsing fever spirochetes in the Americas","volume":"3","year":"2016","journal-title":"Veterinary Sciences"},{"key":"2023070311245053000_2023.06.26.546580v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bissett J , Ledet S , Krishnavajhala A , Armstrong B , Klioueva A , Sexton C , Replogle A , Schriefer M , Lopez J. 2018. Detection of tickborne relapsing fever spirochete, Austin, Texas, USA. Emerging Infectious Diseases 24.","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2411.172033"},{"key":"2023070311245053000_2023.06.26.546580v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2681","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2710.210189","article-title":"Relapsing fever infection manifesting as aseptic meningitis, Texas, USA","volume":"27","year":"2021","journal-title":"Emerging Infectious Diseases"},{"key":"2023070311245053000_2023.06.26.546580v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0009868","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0009868","article-title":"Diversity and distribution of the tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia turicatae","volume":"15","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases"},{"key":"2023070311245053000_2023.06.26.546580v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Francis E. 1938. Longevity of the tick Ornithodoros turicata and of Spirochaeta recurrentis within this tick. 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