Bacterial Symbionts Tell Ticks When to Eat

The endosymbiont Coxiella affects tick serotonin production and subsequent blood-feeding behavior, a study finds.

Written byAbby Olena, PhD

| 3 min read

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A brown tick is shown from above as it climbs a green blade of grass

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ABOVE: An adult female Asian longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis)
JAMES GATHANY, CDC

Many species of ticks need blood meals to grow, develop, and reproduce. During those blood meals, they can transmit diseases to their hosts. Researchers have known for several years that treating ticks with antibiotics to do away with bacteria that live inside them affects blood intake, but it wasn’t clear why. Now, a study published September 14 in Cell Host & Microbe shows that one such bacterial symbiont, Coxiella, influences blood feeding by the Asian longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) by contributing to tick tryptophan metabolism, thus regulating serotonin production.

“That microbes . . . influence brain and behavior is really fascinating,” says Carlos Ribeiro, a neuroscientist at Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Portugal who did not participate in the study. “We are moving away from the phase where we are just documenting these effects [to] starting to understand ...

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Meet the Author

Abby Olena, PhD
As a freelancer for The Scientist, Abby reports on new developments in life science for the website. She has a PhD from Vanderbilt University and got her start in science journalism as the Chicago Tribune’s AAAS Mass Media Fellow in 2013. Following a stint as an intern for The Scientist, Abby was a postdoc in science communication at Duke University, where she developed and taught courses to help scientists share their research. In addition to her work as a science journalist, she leads science writing and communication workshops and co-produces a conversational podcast. She is based in Alabama.
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