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The Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Bm86 gene plays a critical role in the fitness of ticks fed on cattle during acute Babesia bovis infection

BACKGROUND: Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is an economically important tick of cattle involved in the transmission of Babesia bovis, the etiological agent of bovine babesiosis. Commercial anti-tick vaccines based on the R. microplus Bm86 glycoprotein have shown some effect in controlling tick...

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Autores principales: Bastos, Reginaldo G, Ueti, Massaro W, Knowles, Donald P, Scoles, Glen A
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2994843/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21092112
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-3-111
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author Bastos, Reginaldo G
Ueti, Massaro W
Knowles, Donald P
Scoles, Glen A
author_facet Bastos, Reginaldo G
Ueti, Massaro W
Knowles, Donald P
Scoles, Glen A
author_sort Bastos, Reginaldo G
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is an economically important tick of cattle involved in the transmission of Babesia bovis, the etiological agent of bovine babesiosis. Commercial anti-tick vaccines based on the R. microplus Bm86 glycoprotein have shown some effect in controlling tick infestation; however their efficacy as a stand-alone solution for tick control has been questioned. Understanding the role of the Bm86 gene product in tick biology is critical to identifying additional methods to utilize Bm86 to reduce R. microplus infestation and babesia transmission. Additionally, the role played by Bm86 in R. microplus fitness during B. bovis infection is unknown. RESULTS: Here we describe in two independent experiments that RNA interference-mediated silencing of Bm86 decreased the fitness of R. microplus females fed on cattle during acute B. bovis infection. Notably, Bm86 silencing decreased the number and survival of engorged females, and decreased the weight of egg masses. However, gene silencing had no significant effect on the efficiency of transovarial transmission of B. bovis from surviving female ticks to their larval offspring. The results also show that Bm86 is expressed, in addition to gut cells, in larvae, nymphs, adult males and ovaries of partially engorged adult R. microplus females, and its expression was significantly down-regulated in ovaries of ticks fed on B. bovis-infected cattle. CONCLUSION: The R. microplus Bm86 gene plays a critical role during tick feeding and after repletion during blood digestion in ticks fed on cattle during acute B. bovis infection. Therefore, the data indirectly support the rationale for using Bm86-based vaccines, perhaps in combination with acaricides, to control tick infestation particularly in B. bovis endemic areas.
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spelling pubmed-29948432010-12-01 The Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Bm86 gene plays a critical role in the fitness of ticks fed on cattle during acute Babesia bovis infection Bastos, Reginaldo G Ueti, Massaro W Knowles, Donald P Scoles, Glen A Parasit Vectors Research BACKGROUND: Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is an economically important tick of cattle involved in the transmission of Babesia bovis, the etiological agent of bovine babesiosis. Commercial anti-tick vaccines based on the R. microplus Bm86 glycoprotein have shown some effect in controlling tick infestation; however their efficacy as a stand-alone solution for tick control has been questioned. Understanding the role of the Bm86 gene product in tick biology is critical to identifying additional methods to utilize Bm86 to reduce R. microplus infestation and babesia transmission. Additionally, the role played by Bm86 in R. microplus fitness during B. bovis infection is unknown. RESULTS: Here we describe in two independent experiments that RNA interference-mediated silencing of Bm86 decreased the fitness of R. microplus females fed on cattle during acute B. bovis infection. Notably, Bm86 silencing decreased the number and survival of engorged females, and decreased the weight of egg masses. However, gene silencing had no significant effect on the efficiency of transovarial transmission of B. bovis from surviving female ticks to their larval offspring. The results also show that Bm86 is expressed, in addition to gut cells, in larvae, nymphs, adult males and ovaries of partially engorged adult R. microplus females, and its expression was significantly down-regulated in ovaries of ticks fed on B. bovis-infected cattle. CONCLUSION: The R. microplus Bm86 gene plays a critical role during tick feeding and after repletion during blood digestion in ticks fed on cattle during acute B. bovis infection. Therefore, the data indirectly support the rationale for using Bm86-based vaccines, perhaps in combination with acaricides, to control tick infestation particularly in B. bovis endemic areas. BioMed Central 2010-11-19 /pmc/articles/PMC2994843/ /pubmed/21092112 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-3-111 Text en Copyright ©2010 Bastos et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research
Bastos, Reginaldo G
Ueti, Massaro W
Knowles, Donald P
Scoles, Glen A
The Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Bm86 gene plays a critical role in the fitness of ticks fed on cattle during acute Babesia bovis infection
title The Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Bm86 gene plays a critical role in the fitness of ticks fed on cattle during acute Babesia bovis infection
title_full The Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Bm86 gene plays a critical role in the fitness of ticks fed on cattle during acute Babesia bovis infection
title_fullStr The Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Bm86 gene plays a critical role in the fitness of ticks fed on cattle during acute Babesia bovis infection
title_full_unstemmed The Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Bm86 gene plays a critical role in the fitness of ticks fed on cattle during acute Babesia bovis infection
title_short The Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Bm86 gene plays a critical role in the fitness of ticks fed on cattle during acute Babesia bovis infection
title_sort rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus bm86 gene plays a critical role in the fitness of ticks fed on cattle during acute babesia bovis infection
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2994843/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21092112
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-3-111
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