Early Transcriptional Changes in the Midgut of Ornithodoros moubata after Feeding and Infection with Borrelia duttonii

Schäfer, Mandy; Pfaff, Florian; Höper, Dirk W.; Silaghi, Cornelia

doi:10.3390/microorganisms10030525

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The transmission of pathogens from an infected tick to hosts must overcome various tissue barriers, such as the midgut, salivary glands, and ovaries [ 32 ]. The midgut serves as the initial site of pathogen contact [ 33 ]. After invading the midguts, the pathogen migrates to the salivary glands via the hemolymph, a critical step for successful transmission during blood feeding [ 34 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Vector Competence of Asian Longhorned Ticks in Langat Virus Transmission

Xu,

Wang

2024

Viruses

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Haemaphysalis longicornis (the longhorned tick), the predominant tick species in China, serves as a vector for a variety of pathogens, and is capable of transmitting the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), the causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis. However, it is unclear how these ticks transmit TBEV. Langat virus (LGTV), which has a reduced pathogenicity in humans, has been used as a surrogate for TBEV. In this study, we aimed to investigate the vector competence of H. longicornis to transmit LGTV and demonstrate the efficient acquisition and transmission of LGTV between this tick species and mice. LGTV localization was detected in several tick tissues, such as the midgut, salivary glands, and synganglion, using quantitative PCR and immunohistochemical staining with a polyclonal antibody targeting the LGTV envelope protein. We demonstrated the horizontal transmission of LGTV to different developmental stages within the same generation but did not see evidence of vertical transmission. It was interesting to note that we observed mice acting as a bridge, facilitating the transmission of LGTV to neighboring naïve ticks during blood feeding. In conclusion, the virus–vector–host model employed in this study provides valuable insights into the replication and transmission of LGTV throughout its life cycle.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Vector Competence of Asian Longhorned Ticks in Langat Virus Transmission

Xu,

Wang

2024

Viruses

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“…An increased understanding of zoonotic disease vectors, including ticks, at the transcriptome-wide level, has been helpful in making informed assumptions regarding the host competency for pathogens and vectorial efficiency in the spread of disease [ 21 – 23 ]. The differences in gene expression that dictate the competency of ticks to harbor disease-causing bacterial and viral pathogens and promote or affect their competence as a vector have been explored [ 21 , 23 , 24 ]. However, there is a lack of information on the complete genome, transcriptome and proteome of H. flava and, consequently, a poor understanding of its biology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcriptome analysis of Haemaphysalis flava female using Illumina HiSeq 4000 sequencing: de novo assembly, functional annotation and discovery of SSR markers

Sang,

Patnaik,

Park

et al. 2023

Parasites Vectors

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Background Ticks are ectoparasites capable of directly damaging their hosts and transmitting vector-borne diseases. The ixodid tick Haemaphysalis flava has a broad distribution that extends from East to South Asia. This tick is a reservoir of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) that causes severe hemorrhagic disease, with cases reported from China, Japan and South Korea. Recently, the distribution of H. flava in South Korea was found to overlap with the occurrence of SFTSV. Methods This study was undertaken to discover the molecular resources of H. flava female ticks using the Illumina HiSeq 4000 system, the Trinity de novo sequence assembler and annotation against public databases. The locally curated Protostome database (PANM-DB) was used to screen the putative adaptation-related transcripts classified to gene families, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme, aquaporin, adenylate cyclase, AMP-activated protein kinase, glutamate receptors, heat shock proteins, molecular chaperones, insulin receptor, mitogen-activated protein kinase and solute carrier family proteins. Also, the repeats and simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were screened from the unigenes using RepeatMasker (v4.0.6) and MISA (v1.0) software tools, followed by the designing of SSRs flanking primers using BatchPrimer 3 (v1.0) software. Results The transcriptome produced a total of 69,822 unigenes, of which 46,175 annotated to the homologous proteins in the PANM-DB. The unigenes were also mapped to the EuKaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) specializations. Promiscuous presence of protein kinase, zinc finger (C2H2-type), reverse transcriptase, and RNA recognition motif domains was observed in the unigenes. A total of 3480 SSRs were screened, of which 1907 and 1274 were found as tri- and dinucleotide repeats, respectively. A list of primer sequences flanking the SSR motifs was detailed for validation of polymorphism in H. flava and the related tick species. Conclusions The reference transcriptome information on H. flava female ticks will be useful for an enriched understanding of tick biology, its competency to act as a vector and the study of species diversity related to disease transmission. Graphical abstract

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“…Springer et al [ 23 ] investigate “ Borrelia infections in aging ticks”, exploring the relationship of the bacteria in field-collected I. ricinus nymphs. The interesting results of early transcriptional changes in the midgut of Ornithodoros following infection with B. duttonii are presented by Schäfer et al [ 24 ]. Numerous putative and uncharacterized sequences were found, demonstrating the complexity of the tick response.…”

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confidence: 99%