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1 May 2012 Laboratory-Infected Ehrlichia chaffeensis Female Adult Amblyomma americanum Salivary Glands Reveal Differential Gene Expression
Shahid Karim, Rebecca Browning, Laila Ali, Rachel Truhett
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Abstract

Ticks are efficient ectoparasites that are able to steal blood, a rich source of nutrients, from their vertebrate hosts. The nymphal developmental stage of ticks plays an important role for pathogen transmission to human and other animal hosts. In this article, we describe a bloodmeal-based sex differentiation tool to generate adult female ticks infected with Ehrlichia chaffeensis to investigate vector-pathogen interactions (functional genomics and gene expression studies). We demonstrate that there is a correlation between the uptake of blood during nymph attachment and the molting into male or female adult ticks. The data obtained from the bloodmeal experiments suggest that nymphs that molt into females presumably imbibe more blood than those that become male during the nymphal stage. The natural low E. chaffeensis infection rate in female adult Amblyomma americanum (L.) is a major limiting factor to investigate Ehrlichia-Amblyomma interactions. To generate Ehrlichia-infected female adult ticks, we inoculated obligate E. chaffeensis (Arkansas strain) infected DH82 cells into heavier engorged nymphs (>12 mg) and allowed them to molt. Freshly molted adults were used to test the E. chaffeensis infection rate. E. chaffeensis genomic DNA was extracted from individual unfed and partially blood fed tick midgut and salivary gland tissues. The tissue samples were tested for the presence of E. chaffeensis using the nested polymerase chain reaction process. Polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragments were detected in unfed and partially fed tissues, demonstrating successful E. chaffeensis infection of tick tissues. This method was used to successfully show differential expression of selected tick genes in E. chaffeensis-infected midguts and salivary glands.

© 2012 Entomological Society of America
Shahid Karim, Rebecca Browning, Laila Ali, and Rachel Truhett "Laboratory-Infected Ehrlichia chaffeensis Female Adult Amblyomma americanum Salivary Glands Reveal Differential Gene Expression," Journal of Medical Entomology 49(3), 547-554, (1 May 2012). https://doi.org/10.1603/ME11214
Received: 28 September 2011; Accepted: 9 February 2012; Published: 1 May 2012
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KEYWORDS
Amblyomma americanum
Ehrlichia chaffeensis
PCR
qRT-PCR
salivary gland
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