Effects of Live and Peptide-Based Antimicrobiota Vaccines on Fitness, Microbiota, and Acquisition of Tick-Borne Pathogens.
Apolline Maitre, Lourdes Mateos-Hernandez, Myriam Kratou, Natalia Egri, Jennifer Maye, Manel Juan, Adnan Hodžić, Dasiel Obregón, Lianet Abuin-Denis, Elianne Piloto-Sardinas, Andrea C Fogaça, Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz
Author Information
Apolline Maitre: Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France.
Lourdes Mateos-Hernandez: Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France. ORCID
Myriam Kratou: Laboratory of Microbiology, National School of Veterinary Medicine of Sidi Thabet, University of Manouba, Manouba 2010, Tunisia. ORCID
Natalia Egri: Servei d'Immunologia, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Universitat de Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
Jennifer Maye: SEPPIC Paris La Défense, 92250 La Garenne Colombes, France.
Manel Juan: Servei d'Immunologia, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Universitat de Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. ORCID
Adnan Hodžić: Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Dasiel Obregón: School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Rd E, Guelph, ON N1H 2W1, Canada. ORCID
Lianet Abuin-Denis: Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France. ORCID
Elianne Piloto-Sardinas: Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France. ORCID
Andrea C Fogaça: Department of Parasitology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-000, Brazil.
Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz: Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France. ORCID
This study explored the effects of antimicrobiota vaccines on the acquisition of and , and on the microbiota composition of ticks. Using a murine model, we investigated the immunological responses to live and multi-antigenic peptide (MAP) vaccines. Immunized mice were infected with either or , and subsequently infested with pathogen-free nymphs. We monitored the tick feeding behavior, survival rates, and infection levels. Additionally, we employed comprehensive microbiota analyses, including the alpha and beta diversity assessments and microbial co-occurrence network construction. Our results indicate that both live and MAP vaccines elicited significant antibody responses in mice, with notable bactericidal effects against . The vaccination altered the feeding patterns and fitness of the ticks, with the Live vaccine group showing a higher weight and faster feeding time. Microbiota analysis revealed significant shifts in the beta diversity between vaccine groups, with distinct microbial networks and taxa abundances observed. Notably, the MAP vaccine group exhibited a more robust and complex network structure, while the Live vaccine group demonstrated resilience to microbial perturbations. However, the effects of antimicrobiota vaccination on acquisition appeared taxon-dependent, as inferred from our results and previous findings on microbiota-driven pathogen refractoriness. -based vaccines altered the microbiota composition but had no effect on infection, and yielded inconclusive results for . In contrast, previous studies suggest that -based microbiota modulation can induce a pathogen-refractory state, highlighting the importance of both bacterial species and peptide selection in shaping microbiota-driven pathogen susceptibility. However, a direct comparison under identical experimental conditions across multiple taxa is required to confirm this taxon-specific effect. These findings suggest that antimicrobiota vaccination influences tick fitness and microbiota assembly, but its effects on pathogen transmission depend on the bacterial taxon targeted and the selected peptide epitopes. This research provides insights into the need for strategic bacterial taxon selection to enhance vaccine efficacy in controlling tick-borne diseases.
