Fig. 1

Sample information and virome overview. a Geographical distribution of tick sampling sites. HLJ, Heilongjiang province; JL, Jilin province; LN, Liaoning province; HB, Hubei province; TH, Tahe; XK, Xunke; JY, Jiayin; LB, Luobei; DN, Dongning; HN, Huinan; LJ, Linjiang; HL, Helong; YJ, Yanji; DH, Dunhua; TM, Tumen; HC, Hunchun; ZH, Zhuanghe; ZA, Zhenan; HR, Huanren; XS, Xinshi; LS, Liusheng; YD, Yindian. b Numbers of ticks sampled at each site. c Overview of tick DNA virome. Left panel: Heat map of viral reads from 20 libraries. Right panel: amino acid identity range of these virus-like contigs with reference sequences in Genbank. Each box plot illustrates the estimated median (center line), and upper and lower quartiles (box limits) of the similarity. The identifier of the library was composed of four letters and a two-digit number, whereby the first two letters are abbreviations for tick species, the next two letters are indicative of the sampling sites and the number refers to the pool’s number. Euk, Eukaryotic; Prok, prokaryotic; Un, unclassified. d K-mer distance-based clustering of these pools. Pools with the same tick species are identified using the same color