Pathogenic and endosymbiotic bacteria associated with the ectoparasite mites <italic>Dermanyssus gallinae</italic> (Dermanyssidae) and <italic>Ornithonyssus bursa</italic> (Macronyssidae)

Battery poultry houses are subject to infestations by pests, such as the ectoparasitic mites <italic>Dermanyssus gallinae (</italic>De Geer, 1778<italic>)</italic> and <italic>Ornithonyssus bursa</italic> (Berlese, 1888) which are hematophagous and can cause skin lesions, stress, and even death of hens, leading to significant economic losses. Recent European studies have shown that these mites can also work as vectors of pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, due to the absence of records on the association between <italic>D. gallinae</italic> and <italic>O. bursa</italic> and pathogenic microorganisms in Brazil, the present study aimed to identify pathogenic bacteria through a metagenomics analysis associated with mites collected from a poultry house located in a rural area of the state of Rio Grande do Sul and direct from a skin’ person that lives in a farm in the interior of the state of São Paulo (Brazil). For the material collected in Rio Grande do Sul, a higher predominance of endosymbiotic bacteria, and different species of the pathogenic bacteria species <italic>Bartonella</italic> was observed. On the other hand, some enterobacteria were identified from <italic>O. bursa</italic> samples, but the amount was not high enough to identify the species. Additionally, the endosymbiotic <italic>Wolbachia</italic> spp. was identified in both <italic>O. bursa</italic> samples (pooled and individuals). Besides the detection of <italic>Wolbachia</italic>, in the individual <italic>O. bursa</italic> microbiome, we detected <italic>Spiroplasma</italic> spp. and ‘<italic>Candidatus</italic> Cardinium’. This is the first time that a microbiome study has been made for the species <italic>D. gallinae</italic> and <italic>O. bursa</italic> in Brazil, as well as the first time that <italic>Wolbachia</italic>, <italic>Spiroplasma</italic> and ‘<italic>Candidatus</italic> Cardinium’ was detected in <italic>O. bursa</italic> samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]