Effect of Metarhizium anisopliae fungus on off-host Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus from tick-infested pasture under cattle grazing in Brazil.

This work aimed to assess the effect of the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae on off-host Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus from tick-infested Brachiaria decumbens pasture undergoing cattle grazing. For this purpose a naturally tick-infested Brachiaria decumbens pasture of 60 m × 100 m with twelve grazing Holstein Friesian-Nelore (Bos indicus) cross breed bovines was sprayed 12 times, 21 days apart with an aqueous conidial suspension of the E9 isolate of M. anisopliae fungus.

Conservation and immunogenicity of the mosquito ortholog of the tick-protective antigen, subolesin.

The control of arthropod vectors of pathogens that affect human and animal health is important for the eradication of vector-borne diseases. The ortholog of the tick-protective antigen, subolesin, was identified in Aedes albopictus and found to have conserved epitopes in ticks and mosquitoes. RNA interference with the tick and mosquito double-stranded RNA in three tick species resulted in significant gene knockdown and decreased tick weight and/or survival.