Comparative analysis of microbial community in the whole body and midgut from fully engorged and unfed female adult Melophagus ovinus

Melophagus ovinus is a type of ectoparasite infesting sheep. Data regarding the comprehensive bacterial community associated with the whole body and midgut of M. ovinus under different engorged statuses are required. Melophagus ovinus were collected from the city of Jiuquan, China. Bacterial DNA was extracted from the whole body and midgut of fully engorged female adults, or newly hatched and unfed adult female M. ovinus. The 16S rRNA gene V3–V4 hypervariable regions were sequenced using the IonS5™XL platform (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, U.S.A.). The whole body bacterial diversity of the newly hatched, unfed adult females was greater compared with that of the other three samples. Proteobacteria was the dominant bacterial phylum in all of the samples. Of the 42 total bacterial genera present in all of the experimental samples, Arsenophonus, Bartonella and Wolbachia were the dominant genera. The relative abundance of Arsenophonus in midgut was greater than that in the whole body. The relative abundance of Bartonella in fully engorged adults was far greater than those in newly hatched, unfed adults. The relative abundance of Wolbachia was highest in the whole body of newly hatched, unfed adults. Seventeen bacterial species were identified in all experimental samples. Bartonella chomelii, Streptococcus hyointestinalis and Escherichia coli were the first species reported in M. ovinus. This is the first report on the microbial community of whole body and midgut of Melophagus ovinus in specimens at different levels of engorgement. Seven phyla, 42 bacterial genera and 17 bacterial species were found across all of the samples. The whole‐body bacterial diversity of the newly hatched and unfed adult females was higher compared with that of the other three samples.