Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Differential Expression of miRNAs in Male and Female Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides Ticks

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulates the innate immune response in arthropods. In tick vectors, LPS activates expression of immune genes, including those for antibacterial peptides. miRNAs are 21–24 nt non-coding small RNAs that regulate target mRNAs at the post-transcriptional level. However, our understanding of tick innate immunity is limited to a few cellular immune reactions and some characterized immune molecules. Moreover, there is little information on the regulation of the immune system in ticks by miRNA. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the differential expression of miRNAs in male and female ticks after LPS injection. LPS was injected into male and female Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides ticks to stimulate immune response, with phosphate buffered saline (PBS)-injected ticks as negative controls. miRNAs from each group were sequenced and analyzed. In the PBS- and LPS-injected female ticks, 11.46 and 12.82 million reads of 18–30 nt were obtained respectively. There were 13.92 and 15.29 million reads of 18–30 nt obtained in the PBS- and LPS-injected male ticks, respectively. Expression of miRNAs in male ticks was greater than that in female ticks. There were 955 and 984 conserved miRNA families in the PBS- and LPS-injected female ticks, respectively, and correspondingly 1684 and 1552 conserved miRNA families in male ticks. Nine novel miRNAs were detected as common miRNAs in two or more tested samples. There were 37 known miRNAs up-regulated >10-fold and 33 down-regulated >10-fold in LPS-injected female ticks; and correspondingly 52 and 59 miRNAs in male ticks. Differential expression of miRNAs in PBS- and LPS-injected samples supports their involvement in the regulation of innate immunity. These data provide an important resource for more detailed functional analysis of miRNAs in this species.