- Name: Carter Merenstein
- Project title: Lyme Disease and the Tick Microbiome
- Abstract: Lyme disease is the most common vector borne disease in the United States, with over 30,000 cases reported each year. It is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which is carried by ticks and infects humans after a tick bite. In this project I looked at the bacterial microbiome of 92 ticks in order to try to identify bacteria that might reduce Borrelia prevalence. In the process I did an exploratory data analysis and identified differences in the microbiomes of ticks by sex and location. I was unable to identify any bacteria that were significantly negatively correlated with Borrelia prevalence, though I did find that bacteria in the family Oxalobacteraceae were positively correlated with Borrelia abundance.
Below are stacked bar graphs which represent the microbiomes from all 92 ticks. Colors represent different types of bacteria, and each virtical bar is a tick. This is an easy graphical way to begin to understand differences in tick microbiomes.
