Tick-borne pathogen detection in midgut and salivary glands of adult Ixodes ricinus

Background: Tick midgut and salivary glands represent the primary organs for pathogen acquisition and transmission, respectively. Specifically, the midgut is the first organ to have contact with pathogens during the blood meal uptake, while salivary glands along with their secretions play a crucial role in pathogen transmission to the host. Currently there is little data about pathogen composition and prevalences in I. ricinus midgut and salivary glands. The present study investigated the presence of 32 pathogen species in the midgut and salivary glands of unfed I. ricinus males and females using high-throughput microfluidic real-time PCR. Such an approach is important for enriching the knowledge about pathogen distribution in distinct tick organs which should lead to a better understanding I. ricinus-borne disease epidemiology. Results: Borrelia lusitaniae, Borrelia spielmanii, and Borrelia garinii, were detected in both midgut and salivary glands suggesting that the migration of these pathogens between these two organs might not be triggered by the blood meal. In contrast, Borrelia afzelii was detected only in the tick midgut. Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Rickettsia helvetica were the most frequently detected in ticks and were found in both males and females in the midgut and salivary glands. In contrast, Rickettsia felis was only detected in salivary glands. Finally Borrelia miyamotoi and Babesia venatorum were detected only in males in both midgut and salivary glands. Among all collected ticks, between 10 and 21% of organs were co-infected. The most common bacterial co-infections in male and female midgut and salivary glands was R. helvetica/A. phagocytophilum and R. helvetica/B. lusitaniae respectively. Conclusions: Analysing tick-borne pathogen (TBP) presence in specific tick organs enabled us to (i) highlight contrasting results with well-established transmission mechanism postulates, (ii) venture new hypotheses concerning pathogen location and migration from midgut to salivary glands, and (iii) suggest other potential associations between pathogens not previously detected at the scale of the whole tick. This work highlights the importance of considering all tick scales (i.e. whole ticks vs organs) to study TBP ecology and represents another step towards improved understanding of TBP transmission.

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Longevity of Anopheles maculipennis race atroparvus, van Thiel, at controlled Temperature and Humidity after one Blood Meal

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485300004612 ◽

1939 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 295-301 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

H. S. Leeson

Keyword(s):

Blood Meal ◽

Small Proportion ◽

Feeding Period ◽

Anopheles Maculipennis ◽

Culex Fatigans ◽

Temperature And Humidity ◽

Males And Females ◽

Blood Meals

From January to July 1938, experiments with Anopheles maculipennis race atroparvus, Van Thiel, were undertaken to discover whether humidity and the age at which the females fed influenced their longevity. It was found that they lived longer at higher than at lower humidities; that most of the females which fed did so in the first three days; that those which fed on the second day after emergence lived longer than those which fed at other ages; and that the feeding period was slightly extended in the later experiments, though only a small proportion lived long enough to take their first blood meals on the fourth and fifth days.Rather more than 50 per cent. of each batch of newly emerged adults were females.A large proportion of the deaths of unfed males and females occurred during the first three days, most of them on the second day; this mortality decreased in successive experiments.Culex fatigans, Wied., behaved similarly.

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The Implications of HIV Treatment on the HIV-Malaria Coinfection Dynamics: A Modeling Perspective

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2015/659651 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

F. Nyabadza ◽

B. T. Bekele ◽

M. A. Rúa ◽

D. M. Malonza ◽

N. Chiduku ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hiv Treatment ◽

Pathogen Transmission ◽

Disease Epidemiology ◽

Qualitative Dynamics ◽

Potential Impact ◽

Negative Impacts ◽

Long Term Behavior ◽

The Impact ◽

Multiple Pathogens

Most hosts harbor multiple pathogens at the same time in disease epidemiology. Multiple pathogens have the potential for interaction resulting in negative impacts on host fitness or alterations in pathogen transmission dynamics. In this paper we develop a mathematical model describing the dynamics of HIV-malaria coinfection. Additionally, we extended our model to examine the role treatment (of malaria and HIV) plays in altering populations’ dynamics. Our model consists of 13 interlinked equations which allow us to explore multiple aspects of HIV-malaria transmission and treatment. We perform qualitative analysis of the model that includes positivity and boundedness of solutions. Furthermore, we evaluate the reproductive numbers corresponding to the submodels and investigate the long term behavior of the submodels. We also consider the qualitative dynamics of the full model. Sensitivity analysis is done to determine the impact of some chosen parameters on the dynamics of malaria. Finally, numerical simulations illustrate the potential impact of the treatment scenarios and confirm our analytical results.

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Deep Sequencing revealed "Plant Like Transcripts" in mosquito Anopheles culicifacies: an Evolutionary Puzzle

10.1101/010009 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Punita Sharma ◽

Swati Sharma ◽

Ashwani Mishra ◽

Tina Thomas ◽

Tanwee Das De ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Salivary Gland ◽

Adult Female ◽

Blood Meal ◽

Underlying Mechanism ◽

Pathogen Transmission ◽

Anopheles Culicifacies ◽

Plant Host ◽

Vector Borne Diseases ◽

Experimental Validations ◽

Molecular Relationships

As adult female mosquito's salivary gland facilitate blood meal uptake and pathogen transmission e.g. Plasmodium, virus etc., a plethora of research has been focused to understand the mosquito-vertebrate-pathogen interactions. Despite the fact that mosquito spends longer time over nectar sugar source, the fundamental question "how adult female salivary gland manages molecular and functional relationship during sugar vs. blood meal uptake" remains unanswered. Currently, we are trying to understand these molecular relationships under dual feeding conditions in the salivary glands of the mosquito Anopheles culicifacies. During functional annotation of salivary transcriptome database, unexpectedly we discovered a cluster of salivary transcripts encoding plant like proteins. Our multiple experimental validations confirmed that Plant like transcripts (PLTs) are of mosquito origin and may encode functional proteins. A comprehensive molecular analysis of the PLTs and ongoing metagenomic analysis of salivary microbiome provide first evidence that how mosquito may have been benefited from its association with plant host and microbes. Future understanding of the underlying mechanism of the feeding associated molecular responses may provide new opportunity to control vector borne diseases.

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Mating and blood-feeding induce transcriptome changes in the spermathecae of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-71904-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Carolina Camargo ◽

Yasir H. Ahmed-Braimah ◽

I. Alexandra Amaro ◽

Laura C. Harrington ◽

Mariana F. Wolfner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Aedes Aegypti ◽

Blood Meal ◽

Transcriptional Response ◽

Blood Feeding ◽

Sperm Storage ◽

Biological Processes ◽

Gene Products ◽

Heme Peroxidase ◽

Males And Females

Abstract Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the primary vectors of numerous viruses that impact human health. As manipulation of reproduction has been proposed to suppress mosquito populations, elucidation of biological processes that enable males and females to successfully reproduce is necessary. One essential process is female sperm storage in specialized structures called spermathecae. Aedes aegypti females typically mate once, requiring them to maintain sperm viably to fertilize eggs they lay over their lifetime. Spermathecal gene products are required for Drosophila sperm storage and sperm viability, and a spermathecal-derived heme peroxidase is required for long-term Anopheles gambiae fertility. Products of the Ae. aegypti spermathecae, and their response to mating, are largely unknown. Further, although female blood-feeding is essential for anautogenous mosquito reproduction, the transcriptional response to blood-ingestion remains undefined in any reproductive tissue. We conducted an RNAseq analysis of spermathecae from unfed virgins, mated only, and mated and blood-fed females at 6, 24, and 72 h post-mating and identified significant differentially expressed genes in each group at each timepoint. A blood-meal following mating induced a greater transcriptional response in the spermathecae than mating alone. This study provides the first view of elicited mRNA changes in the spermathecae by a blood-meal in mated females.

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Tick-borne pathogen detection in midgut and salivary glands of adult Ixodes ricinus

Parasites & Vectors ◽

10.1186/s13071-019-3418-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Emilie Lejal ◽

Sara Moutailler ◽

Ladislav Šimo ◽

Muriel Vayssier-Taussat ◽

Thomas Pollet

Keyword(s):

Salivary Glands ◽

Ixodes Ricinus ◽

Pathogen Detection

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Alpha-Gal and Cross-Reactive Carbohydrate Determinants in the N-Glycans of Salivary Glands in the Lone Star Tick, Amblyomma americanum

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines8010018 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 18 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Yoonseong Park ◽

Donghun Kim ◽

Gunavanthi Boorgula ◽

Kristof De Schutter ◽

Guy Smagghe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Salivary Glands ◽

Molecular Mimicry ◽

Amblyomma Americanum ◽

Pathogen Transmission ◽

Tick Saliva ◽

Bioactive Materials ◽

Male And Female ◽

Lone Star Tick ◽

Meat Allergy ◽

Animal Pathogens

Ticks are important ectoparasites and vectors of numerous human and animal pathogens. Ticks secrete saliva that contains various bioactive materials to evade the host defense system, and often facilitates the pathogen transmission. In addition, the Lone star tick saliva is thought to be the sensitizer in red meat allergy that is characterized by an allergic reaction to glycan moieties carrying terminal galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (aGal). To assess N-glycome of Amblyomma americanum, we examined the N-glycan structures in male and female salivary glands at three different feeding stages and in carcasses of partially fed lone star ticks. We also surveyed the genes involved in the N-glycosylation in the tick species. The aGal epitopes and cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants (CCD) increases over time after the onset of blood feeding in both male and female A. americanum. These CCDs include xylosylation of the core mannose, 1,3-mono and 1,3- and 1,6-difucosylations of the basal GlcNac and mono- or diantennary aGal. Combinations of both xylosylation and aGal and fucosylation and aGal were also found on the N-glycan structures. While the enzymes required for the early steps of the N-glycosylation pathway are quite conserved, the enzymes involved in the later stages of N-glycan maturation in the Golgi apparatus are highly diverged from those of insects. Most of all, we propose that the aGal serves as a molecular mimicry of bioactive proteins during tick feedings on mammalian hosts, while it contributes as a sensitizer of allergy in atypical host human.

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Salivary glands of the sand fly Phlebotomus papatasi contain pharmacologically active amounts of adenosine and 5′-AMP

Journal of Experimental Biology ◽

10.1242/jeb.202.11.1551 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 202 (11) ◽

pp. 1551-1559 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J.M. Ribeiro ◽

O. Katz ◽

L.K. Pannell ◽

J. Waitumbi ◽

A. Warburg

Keyword(s):

Mass Spectrometry ◽

Salivary Gland ◽

Salivary Glands ◽

Blood Meal ◽

Protein Phosphatase ◽

Sand Fly ◽

Phlebotomus Papatasi ◽

Pharmacologically Active ◽

Phosphatase Substrate ◽

Allosteric Modification

Salivary gland homogenates of the sand fly Phlebotomus papatasi contain large amounts of adenosine and 5′-AMP, of the order of 1 nmol per pair of glands, as demonstrated by liquid chromatography, ultraviolet spectrometry, mass spectrometry and bioassays. These purines, 75–80 % of which are secreted from the glands following a blood meal, have vasodilatory and anti-platelet activities and probably help the fly to obtain a blood meal. Salivary 5′-AMP is also responsible for the previously reported protein phosphatase inhibitor in the salivary glands of P. papatasi, which is shown to be artifactual in nature as a result of allosteric modification by AMP of the phosphatase substrate used (phosphorylase a).

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Sex-related Differences in Gene Expression in Salivary Glands of BALB/c Mice

Journal of Dental Research ◽

10.1177/154405910508400210 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 84 (2) ◽

pp. 160-165 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

N.S. Treister ◽

S.M. Richards ◽

M.J. Lombardi ◽

P. Rowley ◽

R.V. Jensen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Salivary Glands ◽

Structure And Function ◽

Differentially Expressed ◽

Male And Female ◽

Tissue Specific ◽

Total Rna ◽

Males And Females ◽

And Function

Sex-related differences exist in the structure and function of the major glands in a variety of species. Moreover, many of these variations appear to be unique to each tissue. We hypothesized that this sexual dimorphism is due, at least in part, to gland-specific differences in gene expression between males and females. Glands were collected from male and female BALB/c mice (n = 5/sex/experiment), and total RNA was isolated. Samples were analyzed for differentially expressed mRNAs with CodeLink microarrays, and data were evaluated by GeneSifter. Our results demonstrate that significant (P < 0.05) sex-related differences exist in the expression of numerous genes in the major salivary glands, and many of these differences were tissue-specific. These findings support our hypothesis that sex-related differences in the salivary glands are due, at least in part, to tissue-specific variations in gene expression.

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A SEX PHEROMONE IN THE INSECT RHODNIUS PROLIXUS (HEMIPTERA: REDUVIIDAE)

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/ent10318-1 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 103 (1) ◽

pp. 18-22 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

W. F. Baldwin ◽

A. G. Knight ◽

K. R. Lynn

Keyword(s):

Sex Pheromone ◽

Blood Meal ◽

Rhodnius Prolixus ◽

Volatile Substance ◽

Pheromone Production ◽

Complete Darkness ◽

Actual Contact ◽

Nocturnal Species ◽

Males And Females ◽

Meal Feeding

AbstractIn Rhodnius, a volatile substance produced by mating pairs is attractive to male insects. The pheromone acts also as a sexual stimulant; males respond in the absence of females by attempting copulation with other males. Air swept over mating pairs and conducted to a cage at a considerable distance proved to be highly attractive to males. Proximity of the sexes, without opportunity for actual contact, does not stimulate production of the pheromone. Since males and females will copulate only after a blood meal, feeding is a prerequisite to pheromone production. Also, unfed males will not respond to the attractant. Males of this nocturnal species were stimulated only in complete darkness.

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Quantitative Proteomics Identifies Metabolic Pathways Affected by Babesia Infection and Blood Feeding in the Sialoproteome of the Vector Rhipicephalus bursa

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines8010091 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 91 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Joana Couto ◽

Margarita Villar ◽

Lourdes Mateos-Hernández ◽

Joana Ferrolho ◽

Gustavo Sanches ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Salivary Glands ◽

Cellular Response ◽

Egg Production ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Blood Feeding ◽

Pathogen Transmission ◽

Hatching Rate ◽

Pathogen Infection ◽

Protective Antigens ◽

Rhipicephalus Bursa

The negative impact of ticks and tick-borne diseases on animals and human health is driving research to discover novel targets affecting both vectors and pathogens. The salivary glands are involved in feeding and pathogen transmission, thus are considered as a compelling target to focus research. In this study, proteomics approach was used to characterize Rhipicephalus bursa sialoproteome in response to Babesia ovis infection and blood feeding. Two potential tick protective antigens were identified and its influence in tick biological parameters and pathogen infection was evaluated. Results demonstrate that the R. bursa sialoproteome is highly affected by feeding but infection is well tolerated by tick cells. The combination of both stimuli shifts the previous scenario and a more evident pathogen manipulation can be suggested. Knockdown of ub2n led to a significative increase of infection in tick salivary glands but a brusque decrease in the progeny, revealing its importance in the cellular response to pathogen infection, which is worth pursuing in future studies. Additionally, an impact in the recovery rate of adults (62%), the egg production efficiency (45.75%), and the hatching rate (88.57 %) was detected. Building knowledge on vector and/or pathogen interplay bridges the identification of protective antigens and the development of novel control strategies.

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