Veterinary Research Forum
Vet Res Forum

Key molecules regulating the blood meals of Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Acari: Ixodidae) revealed by transcriptomics

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Yajun Lu 1, 2, 3
Yijia Xu 3
Chenghang Yu 1
Shi Cheng 3
Qianfeng Xia 3
Bin Zheng 1

1 National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research), NHC Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, WHO Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases, National Center for International Research on Tropical Diseases, Shanghai, China

2 Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China

3 Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China

https://doi.org/10.30466/vrf.2024.2011271.4007
Abstract
Rhipicephalus sanguineus, a repulsive obligate blood feeder, is a three-host tick inflicting tremendous damage. Blood-sucking initiates tick-pathogen-host interactions along with alterations in the expression levels of numerous bioactive ingredients. Key molecules regulating blood meals were identified using the transcriptomic approach. A total number of 744 transcripts showed statistically significantly differential expression including 309 significantly upregulated transcripts and 435 significantly downregulated transcripts in semiengorged female ticks compared to unfed ticks, all collected in 2021. The top 10 differentially upregulated transcripts with explicit functional annotations included turripeptide OL55-like protein, valine tRNA ligase-like protein and ice-structuring glycoprotein-like protein. The top 10 differentially down-regulated transcripts were uncharacterized proteins. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed four associated terms in the cellular component category and 16 in the molecular function category among the top 20 terms. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were enriched in GO terms ID 0000323 (lytic vacuole) and ID 0005773 (vacuole).  The top 20 enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways included metabolism, cellular processes, organismal systems and human diseases. The DEGs were enriched in the KEGG term ID: ko-04142 (lysosome pathway) associated with intracellular digestion in the tick midgut epithelium. Molecular markers annotated via comparative transcriptomic profiling were expected to be candidate markers for the purpose of tick control.

Keywords

Blood meal
Hematophagy
Rhipicephalus sanguineus
Tick-host interactions
Transcriptomics

Subjects

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Veterinary Research Forum
Volume 15, Issue 4
April 2024
Pages 171-179

  • Receive Date 18 September 2023
  • Revise Date 25 November 2023
  • Accept Date 08 January 2024

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