Identification and Characterization of ATAQ Homolog from Ticks and Its Immunogenic Potential as an Anti-Tick Vaccine Candidate Molecule.

Although vaccines are one of the environmentally friendly means to prevent the spread of ticks, there is currently no commercial vaccine effective against ticks. In this study, we identified, characterized, localized, and evaluated the expression patterns, and tested the immunogenic potential of a homologue of ATAQ in (HlATAQ). HlATAQ was identified as a 654 amino acid-long protein present throughout the midgut and in Malpighian tubule cells and containing six full and one partial EGF-like domains.

Molecular detection of () and spp. in hard ticks distributed in Tokachi District, eastern Hokkaido, Japan.

Ticks transmit various pathogens, including parasites, bacteria and viruses to humans and animals. To investigate the ticks and the potentially zoonotic pathogens that they may carry, questing ticks were collected in 2017 from 7 sites in Tokachi District, eastern Hokkaido, Japan. A total of 1563 ticks including adults (male and female), nymphs and larvae were collected.

Subolesin vaccination inhibits blood feeding and reproduction of Haemaphysalis longicornis in rabbits.

Background: Ticks can transmit numerous tick-borne pathogens and cause a huge economic loss to the livestock industry. Tick vaccines can contribute to the prevention of tick-borne diseases by inhibiting tick infestation or reproduction. Subolesin is an antigenic molecule proven to be a potential tick vaccine against different tick species and even some tick-borne pathogens.

Expression Profiles in Infected With .

The gene is widely disseminated in various organisms and has a pivotal role in the regulation of pathogen infection in blood-sucking arthropods. However, to date, information on the gene from the tick, an important vector of human and animal diseases, remains unknown. In this study, we identified the gene from and evaluated its expression levels in -infected and -uninfected ticks at developmental stages.

Identification of Genes Differentially Expressed in Response to Infection.

is a tick and a vector of various pathogens, including the human pathogenetic . The objective of this study was to identify female genes differentially expressed in response to infection with Gray strain by using a suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) procedure. A total of 302 randomly selected clones were sequenced and analyzed in the forward subtracted SSH cDNA library related to infection, and 110 clones in the reverse cDNA library.

The Kinase IKKβ Regulates a STING- and NF-κB-Dependent Antiviral Response Pathway in Drosophila.

Antiviral immunity in Drosophila involves RNA interference and poorly characterized inducible responses. Here, we showed that two components of the IMD pathway, the kinase dIKKβ and the transcription factor Relish, were required to control infection by two picorna-like viruses. We identified a set of genes induced by viral infection and regulated by dIKKβ and Relish, which included an ortholog of STING.

Detection of mutation by allele-specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (AS-LAMP).

For effective control of pathogen-transmitting mosquitoes, precise surveillance data of mosquito distribution are essential. Recently, an increase of insecticide resistance due to the kdr mutation in Anopheles gambiae, a mosquito that transmits the malaria parasite, has been reported. With the aim of developing a simple and effective method for surveying resistant mosquitoes, LAMP was applied to the allele-specific detection of the kdr gene in An.

Intra-specific diversity of Serratia marcescens in Anopheles mosquito midgut defines Plasmodium transmission capacity.

A critical stage in malaria transmission occurs in the Anopheles mosquito midgut, when the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, ingested with blood, first makes contact with the gut epithelial surface. To understand the response mechanisms within the midgut environment, including those influenced by resident microbiota against Plasmodium, we focus on a midgut bacteria species' intra-specific variation that confers diversity to the mosquito's competency for malaria transmission. Serratia marcescens isolated from either laboratory-reared mosquitoes or wild populations in Burkina Faso shows great phenotypic variation in its cellular and structural features.

Activation of Imd pathway in hemocyte confers infection resistance through humoral response in Drosophila.

Upon microbial invasion the innate immune system of Drosophila melanogaster mounts a response that comes in two distinct but complimentary forms, humoral and cellular. A screen to find genes capable of conferring resistance to the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus upon ectopic expression in immune response tissues uncovered imd gene. This resistance was not dependent on cellular defenses but rather likely a result of upregulation of the humoral response through increased expression of antimicrobial peptides, including a Toll pathway reporter gene drosomycin.

A single fluorescence-based LAMP reaction for identifying multiple parasites in mosquitoes.

Vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and lymphatic filariasis, are co-endemic in large parts of the world. To develop a multiplex amplification method for the simultaneous detection of multiple insect-borne infectious diseases, we used LAMP with fluorescently labeled primers to identify the SPECT2 gene of Plasmodium berghei and the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene of Dirofilaria immitis in mosquitoes. This technique could detect as few as 100 P.

p38 MAPK-dependent phagocytic encapsulation confers infection tolerance in Drosophila.

Hosts employ a combination of two distinct yet compatible strategies to defend themselves against parasites: resistance, the ability to limit parasite burden, and tolerance, the ability to limit damage caused by a given parasite burden. Animals typically exhibit considerable genetic variation in resistance to a variety of pathogens; however, little is known about whether animals can evolve tolerance. Using a bacterial infection model in Drosophila, we uncovered a p38 MAP kinase-mediated mechanism of tolerance to intracellular bacterial infection as measured by the extent to which the host's survival rate increased or was maintained despite increasing bacterial burden.

Rapid recruitment of innate immunity regulates variation of intracellular pathogen resistance in Drosophila.

Genetic variation in susceptibility to pathogens is a central concern both to medicine and agriculture and to the evolution of animals. Here, we have investigated the link between such natural genetic variation and the immune response in wild-type Drosophila melanogaster, a major model organism for immunological research. We found that within nine wild-type strains, different Drosophila genotypes show wide-ranging variation in their ability to survive infection from the pathogenic bacteria Listeria monocytogenes.