Project: Connecting Microbial Ecosystem to Tick Microbiota and the Antibiotic Resistance <b>(ConnecTick)</b>

The primary goal of this project is to investigate how the environmental microbiome—comprising host skin and soil microbiomes—affects the composition and diversity of the tick microbiome, as well as its role in maintaining and transmitting pathogens and serving as a reservoir for ARBs and related ARGs.

This project will use an integrative methodological approach that combines thorough fieldwork with advanced next-generation sequencing (NGS), high-throughput quantitative techniques, and bioinformatics tools to explore fundamental questions using an innovative strategy. It aims to understand the processes underlying the acquisition of microbiota and the formation of microbial communities in ticks, thereby addressing vector competence, pathogen maintenance, and transmission.