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Nandy K, Tamakloe C, Sonenshine DE, Sultana H, Neelakanta G. Anti-tick vaccine candidate subolesin is important for blood feeding and innate immune gene expression in soft ticks. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2023; 17:e0011719. [PMID: 37934730 PMCID: PMC10629623 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Subolesin is a conserved molecule in both hard and soft ticks and is considered as an effective candidate molecule for the development of anti-tick vaccine. Previous studies have reported the role of subolesin in blood feeding, reproduction, development, and gene expression in hard ticks. However, studies addressing the role of subolesin in soft ticks are limited. In this study, we report that subolesin is not only important in soft tick Ornithodoros turicata americanus blood feeding but also in the regulation of innate immune gene expression in these ticks. We identified and characterized several putative innate immune genes including Toll, Lysozyme precursor (Lp), fibrinogen-domain containing protein (FDP), cystatin and ML-domain containing protein (MLD) in O. turicata americanus ticks. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed the expression of these genes in both O. turicata americanus salivary glands and midgut and in all developmental stages of these soft ticks. Significantly increased expression of fdp was noted in salivary glands and midgut upon O. turicata americanus blood feeding. Furthermore, RNAi-mediated knockdown of O. turicata americanus subolesin expression affected blood feeding and innate immune gene expression in these ticks. Significant downregulation of toll, lp, fdp, cystatin, and mld transcripts was evident in sub-dsRNA-treated ticks when compared to the levels noted in mock-dsRNA-treated control. Collectively, our study not only reports identification and characterization of various innate immune genes in O. turicata americanus ticks but also provides evidence on the role of subolesin in blood feeding and innate immune gene expression in these medically important ticks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krittika Nandy
- Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Comfort Tamakloe
- Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, United States of America
- The University of Queensland- Ochsner Clinical School, Jefferson, Loiusiana, United States of America
| | - Daniel E. Sonenshine
- Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, United States of America
- Vector Molecular Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Hameeda Sultana
- Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Girish Neelakanta
- Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America
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Lyu B, Li J, Niemeyer B, Stanley D, Song Q. Identification and characterization of ecdysis-related neuropeptides in the lone star tick Amblyomma americanum. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2023; 14:1256618. [PMID: 37693356 PMCID: PMC10490126 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1256618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is an important ectoparasite known for transmitting diseases to humans and animals. Ecdysis-related neuropeptides (ERNs) control behaviors crucial for arthropods to shed exoskeletons. However, ERN identification and characterization in A. americanum remain incomplete. Methods We investigated ERNs in A. americanum, assessing their evolutionary relationships, protein properties, and functions. Phylogeny, sequence alignment, and domain structures of ERNs were analyzed. ERN functionality was explored using enrichment analysis, and developmental and tissue-specific ERN expression profiles were examined using qPCR and RNAi experiments. Results and discussion The study shows that ERN catalogs (i.e., eclosion hormone, corazonin, and bursicon) are found in most arachnids, and these ERNs in A. americanum have high evolutionary relatedness with other tick species. Protein modeling analysis indicates that ERNs primarily consist of secondary structures and protein stabilizing forces (i.e., hydrophobic clusters, hydrogen bond networks, and salt bridges). Gene functional analysis shows that ENRs are involved in many ecdysis-related functions, including ecdysis-triggering hormone activity, neuropeptide signaling pathway, and corazonin receptor binding. Bursicon proteins have functions in chitin binding and G protein-coupled receptor activity and strong interactions with leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 5. ERNs were expressed in higher levels in newly molted adults and synganglia. RNAi-mediated knockdown of burs α and burs β expression led to a significant decrease in the expression of an antimicrobial peptide, defensin, suggesting they might act in signaling or regulatory pathways that control the expression of immune-related genes. Arthropods are vulnerable immediately after molting because new cuticles are soft and susceptible to injury and pathogen infections. Bursicon homodimers act in prophylactic immunity during this vulnerable period by increasing the synthesis of transcripts encoding antimicrobial peptides to protect them from microbial invasion. Collectively, the expression pattern and characterization of ERNs in this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the physiological processes in A. americanum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Lyu
- Division of Plant Science and Technology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Jingjing Li
- Division of Plant Science and Technology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Brigid Niemeyer
- Division of Plant Science and Technology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - David Stanley
- Biological Control of Insect Research Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Station (USDA/ARS), Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Qisheng Song
- Division of Plant Science and Technology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
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Guerrib F, Ning C, Mateos-Hernandéz L, Rakotobe S, Park Y, Hajdusek O, Perner J, Vancová M, Valdés JJ, Šimo L. Dual SIFamide receptors in Ixodes salivary glands. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2023:103963. [PMID: 37257628 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2023.103963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Salivary glands are vital to tick feeding success and also play a crucial role in tick-borne pathogen transmission. In previous studies of Ixodes scapularis salivary glands, we demonstrated that saliva-producing type II and III acini are innervated by neuropeptidergic axons which release different classes of neuropeptides via their terminals (Šimo et al., 2009b, 2013). Among these, the neuropeptide SIFamide-along with its cognate receptor-were postulated to control the basally located acinar valve via basal epithelial and myoepithelial cells (Vancová et al., 2019). Here, we functionally characterized a second SIFamide receptor (SIFa_R2) from the I. scapularis genome and proved that it senses a low nanomolar level of its corresponding ligand. Insect SIFamide paralogs, SMYamides, also activated the receptor but less effectively compared to SIFamide. Bioinformatic and molecular dynamic analyses suggested that I. scapularis SIFamide receptors are class A GPCRs where the peptide amidated carboxy-terminus is oriented within the receptor binding cavity. The receptor was found to be expressed in Ixodes ricinus salivary glands, synganglia, midguts, trachea, and ovaries, but not in Malpighian tubules. Investigation of the temporal expression patterns suggests that the receptor transcript is highly expressed in unfed I. ricinus female salivary glands and then decreases during feeding. In synganglia, a significant transcript increase was detected in replete ticks. In salivary gland acini, an antibody targeting the second SIFamide receptor recognized basal epithelial cells, myoepithelial cells, and basal granular cells in close proximity to the SIFamide-releasing axon terminals. Immunoreactivity was also detected in specific neurons distributed throughout various I. ricinus synganglion locations. The current findings, alongside previous reports from our group, indicate that the neuropeptide SIFamide acts via two different receptors that regulate distinct or common cell types in the basal region of type II and III acini in I. ricinus salivary glands. The current study investigates the peptidergic regulation of the I. ricinus salivary gland in detail, emphasizing the complexity of this system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fetta Guerrib
- ANSES, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, 94700, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Caina Ning
- ANSES, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, 94700, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Lourdes Mateos-Hernandéz
- ANSES, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, 94700, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Sabine Rakotobe
- ANSES, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, 94700, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Yoonseong Park
- Entomolgy department, Kansas State University, 123 Waters Hall, 66506-4004, Manhattan, KS, USA
| | - Ondrej Hajdusek
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Perner
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Marie Vancová
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, 37005, Czech Republic
| | - James J Valdés
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Ladislav Šimo
- ANSES, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, 94700, Maisons-Alfort, France.
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Wang D, Liu X, Zhang J, Gao B, Liu P, Li J, Meng X. Identification of Neuropeptides Using Long-Read RNA-Seq in the Swimming Crab Portunus trituberculatus, and Their Expression Profile Under Acute Ammonia Stress. Front Physiol 2022; 13:910585. [PMID: 35651875 PMCID: PMC9149262 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.910585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Daixia Wang
- Key Laboratory of Aquatic Genomics, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, China
- Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Xiaochen Liu
- Key Laboratory of Aquatic Genomics, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, China
- Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Jingyan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Aquatic Genomics, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, China
- Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Baoquan Gao
- Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
- Key Laboratory of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, China
| | - Ping Liu
- Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
- Key Laboratory of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, China
| | - Jian Li
- Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
- Key Laboratory of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, China
| | - Xianliang Meng
- Key Laboratory of Aquatic Genomics, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, China
- Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
- *Correspondence: Xianliang Meng,
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Waldman J, Xavier MA, Vieira LR, Logullo R, Braz GRC, Tirloni L, Ribeiro JMC, Veenstra JA, Silva Vaz ID. Neuropeptides in Rhipicephalus microplus and other hard ticks. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2022; 13:101910. [PMID: 35121230 PMCID: PMC9477089 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2022.101910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The synganglion is the central nervous system of ticks and, as such, controls tick physiology. It does so through the production and release of signaling molecules, many of which are neuropeptides. These peptides can function as neurotransmitters, neuromodulators and/or neurohormones, although in most cases their functions remain to be established. We identified and performed in silico characterization of neuropeptides present in different life stages and organs of Rhipicephalus microplus, generating transcriptomes from ovary, salivary glands, fat body, midgut and embryo. Annotation of synganglion transcripts led to the identification of 32 functional categories of proteins, of which the most abundant were: secreted, energetic metabolism and oxidant metabolism/detoxification. Neuropeptide precursors are among the sequences over-represented in R. microplus synganglion, with at least 5-fold higher transcription compared with other stages/organs. A total of 52 neuropeptide precursors were identified: ACP, achatin, allatostatins A, CC and CCC, allatotropin, bursicon A/B, calcitonin A and B, CCAP, CCHamide, CCRFamide, CCH/ITP, corazonin, DH31, DH44, eclosion hormone, EFLamide, EFLGGPamide, elevenin, ETH, FMRFamide myosuppressin-like, glycoprotein A2/B5, gonadulin, IGF, inotocin, insulin-like peptides, iPTH, leucokinin, myoinhibitory peptide, NPF 1 and 2, orcokinin, proctolin, pyrokinin/periviscerokinin, relaxin, RYamide, SIFamide, sNPF, sulfakinin, tachykinin and trissin. Several of these neuropeptides have not been previously reported in ticks, as the presence of ETH that was first clearly identified in Parasitiformes, which include ticks and mites. Prediction of the mature neuropeptides from precursor sequences was performed using available information about these peptides from other species, conserved domains and motifs. Almost all neuropeptides identified are also present in other tick species. Characterizing the role of neuropeptides and their respective receptors in tick physiology can aid the evaluation of their potential as drug targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jéssica Waldman
- Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Marina Amaral Xavier
- Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Larissa Rezende Vieira
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Raquel Logullo
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Gloria Regina Cardoso Braz
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia - Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Lucas Tirloni
- Tick-Pathogen Transmission Unit, Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, MT, USA
| | - José Marcos C Ribeiro
- Vector Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Jan A Veenstra
- Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, UMR 5287 CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Itabajara da Silva Vaz
- Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia - Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
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Microbiomes of Blood-Feeding Arthropods: Genes Coding for Essential Nutrients and Relation to Vector Fitness and Pathogenic Infections. A Review. Microorganisms 2021; 9:microorganisms9122433. [PMID: 34946034 PMCID: PMC8704530 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9122433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2021] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/20/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Blood-feeding arthropods support a diverse array of symbiotic microbes, some of which facilitate host growth and development whereas others are detrimental to vector-borne pathogens. We found a common core constituency among the microbiota of 16 different arthropod blood-sucking disease vectors, including Bacillaceae, Rickettsiaceae, Anaplasmataceae, Sphingomonadaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, Moraxellaceae and Staphylococcaceae. By comparing 21 genomes of common bacterial symbionts in blood-feeding vectors versus non-blooding insects, we found that certain enteric bacteria benefit their hosts by upregulating numerous genes coding for essential nutrients. Bacteria of blood-sucking vectors expressed significantly more genes (p < 0.001) coding for these essential nutrients than those of non-blooding insects. Moreover, compared to endosymbionts, the genomes of enteric bacteria also contained significantly more genes (p < 0.001) that code for the synthesis of essential amino acids and proteins that detoxify reactive oxygen species. In contrast, microbes in non-blood-feeding insects expressed few gene families coding for these nutrient categories. We also discuss specific midgut bacteria essential for the normal development of pathogens (e.g., Leishmania) versus others that were detrimental (e.g., bacterial toxins in mosquitoes lethal to Plasmodium spp.).
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De Novo RNA-seq and Functional Annotation of Haemaphysalis longicornis. Acta Parasitol 2019; 64:807-820. [PMID: 31418165 DOI: 10.2478/s11686-019-00103-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Haemaphysalis longicornis (Neumann) is a hematophagous tick widely distributed in northern China. It not only causes enormous economic loss to animal husbandry, but also as a vector and reservoir of various zoonotic pathogens, it spreads natural focal diseases, such as severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, seriously threatening human health. Lack of transcriptomic and genomic data from H. longicornis limits the study of this important medical vector. METHODS The engorged female H. longicornis from Gansu, China, was used for RNA extraction, de novo RNA-seq, functional annotation, and ORF prediction. RESULTS As a result, 53.09 million clean reads (98.88%) with a GC content of 54.29% were obtained. A total of 65,916 Unigenes were assembled, of which 34.59% (23,330) were successfully annotated. Of these Unigenes, 22,587 (34.27%) were annotated to species by NCBI non-redundant protein (nr). Ixodes scapularis, Limulus polyphemus, Parasteatoda tepidariorum, Stegodyphus mimosarum, and Metaseiulus occidentalis were the top BLAST hit species, accounting for 47.23%, 9.58%, 4.11%, 3.50%, and 2.69%, respectively. A total of 29,182 ORFs were predicted, and 35 complete ORFs for functional genes were identified, including ORFs involved in digestion (14), stress responses (8), anticoagulation (3), reproduction (3), antimicrobial (2), drug resistance (2), movement (2), autophagy (1), and immunity (1), respectively. The Unigene ORFs encoding cathepsin and heat shock proteins were further analyzed phylogenetically. CONCLUSION De novo RNA-seq and functional annotation of H. longicornis were successfully completed for the first time, providing a molecular data resource for further research on blood-sucking, pathogen transmission mechanisms, and effective prevention and control strategies.
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Miller SW, Movsesyan A, Zhang S, Fernández R, Posakony JW. Evolutionary emergence of Hairless as a novel component of the Notch signaling pathway. eLife 2019; 8:48115. [PMID: 31545167 PMCID: PMC6777938 DOI: 10.7554/elife.48115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 09/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Suppressor of Hairless [Su(H)], the transcription factor at the end of the Notch pathway in Drosophila, utilizes the Hairless protein to recruit two co-repressors, Groucho (Gro) and C-terminal Binding Protein (CtBP), indirectly. Hairless is present only in the Pancrustacea, raising the question of how Su(H) in other protostomes gains repressive function. We show that Su(H) from a wide array of arthropods, molluscs, and annelids includes motifs that directly bind Gro and CtBP; thus, direct co-repressor recruitment is ancestral in the protostomes. How did Hairless come to replace this ancestral paradigm? Our discovery of a protein (S-CAP) in Myriapods and Chelicerates that contains a motif similar to the Su(H)-binding domain in Hairless has revealed a likely evolutionary connection between Hairless and Metastasis-associated (MTA) protein, a component of the NuRD complex. Sequence comparison and widely conserved microsynteny suggest that S-CAP and Hairless arose from a tandem duplication of an ancestral MTA gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven W Miller
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States
| | - Artem Movsesyan
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States
| | - Sui Zhang
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States
| | - Rosa Fernández
- Bioinformatics and Genomics Unit, Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain
| | - James W Posakony
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States
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Xiong C, Baker D, Pietrantonio PV. The Cattle Fever Tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, as a Model for Forward Pharmacology to Elucidate Kinin GPCR Function in the Acari. Front Physiol 2019; 10:1008. [PMID: 31447698 PMCID: PMC6692460 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 07/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The success of the acaricide amitraz, a ligand of the tick tyramine/octopamine receptor (a G protein-coupled receptor; GPCR), stimulated interest on arthropod-specific GPCRs as targets to control tick populations. This search advances tick physiology because little is known about the pharmacology of tick GPCRs, their endogenous ligands or their physiological functions. Here we explored the tick kinin receptor, a neuropeptide GPCR, and its ligands. Kinins are pleiotropic insect neuropeptides but their function in ticks is unknown. The endogenous tick kinins are unknown and their cDNAs have not been cloned in any species. In contrast, more than 271 insect kinin sequences are available in the DINeR database. To fill this gap, we cloned the kinin cDNA from the cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, which encodes 17 predicted kinins, and verified the kinin gene structure. We predicted the kinin precursor sequences from additional seven tick species, including Ixodes scapularis. All species showed an expansion of kinin paracopies. The "kinin core" (minimal active sequence) of tick kinins FX1X2WGamide is similar to those in insects. Pro was predominant at the X2 position in tick kinins. Toward accelerating the discovery of kinin function in ticks we searched for novel synthetic receptor ligands. We developed a dual-addition assay for functional screens of small molecules and/or peptidomimetics that uses a fluorescent calcium reporter. A commercial library of fourteen small molecules antagonists of mammalian neurokinin (NK) receptors was screened using this endpoint assay. One acted as full antagonist (TKSM02) with inhibitory concentration fifty (IC50) of ∼45 μM, and three were partial antagonists. A subsequent calcium bioluminescence assay tested these four antagonists through kinetic curves and confirmed TKSM02 as full antagonist and one as partial antagonist (TKSM14). Antagonists of NK receptors displayed selectivity (>10,000-fold) on the tick kinin receptor. Three peptidomimetic ligands of the mammalian NK receptors (hemokinin 1, antagonist G, and spantide I) were tested in the bioluminescence assay but none were active. Forward approaches may accelerate discovery of kinin ligands, either as reagents for tick physiological research or as lead molecules for acaricide development, and they demonstrate that selectivity is achievable between mammalian and tick neuropeptide systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caixing Xiong
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Dwight Baker
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
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Mans BJ, Featherston J, Kvas M, Pillay KA, de Klerk DG, Pienaar R, de Castro MH, Schwan TG, Lopez JE, Teel P, Pérez de León AA, Sonenshine DE, Egekwu NI, Bakkes DK, Heyne H, Kanduma EG, Nyangiwe N, Bouattour A, Latif AA. Argasid and ixodid systematics: Implications for soft tick evolution and systematics, with a new argasid species list. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2018; 10:219-240. [PMID: 30309738 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2018] [Revised: 07/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/22/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The systematics of the genera and subgenera within the soft tick family Argasidae is not adequately resolved. Different classification schemes, reflecting diverse schools of scientific thought that elevated or downgraded groups to genera or subgenera, have been proposed. In the most recent classification scheme, Argas and Ornithodoros are paraphyletic and the placement of various subgenera remains uncertain because molecular data are lacking. Thus, reclassification of the Argasidae is required. This will enable an understanding of soft tick systematics within an evolutionary context. This study addressed that knowledge gap using mitochondrial genome and nuclear (18S and 28S ribosomal RNA) sequence data for representatives of the subgenera Alectorobius, Argas, Chiropterargas, Ogadenus, Ornamentum, Ornithodoros, Navis (subgen. nov.), Pavlovskyella, Persicargas, Proknekalia, Reticulinasus and Secretargas, from the Afrotropical, Nearctic and Palearctic regions. Hard tick species (Ixodidae) and a new representative of Nuttalliella namaqua (Nuttalliellidae), were also sequenced with a total of 83 whole mitochondrial genomes, 18S rRNA and 28S rRNA genes generated. The study confirmed the utility of next-generation sequencing to retrieve systematic markers. Paraphyly of Argas and Ornithodoros was resolved by systematic analysis and a new species list is proposed. This corresponds broadly with the morphological cladistic analysis of Klompen and Oliver (1993). Estimation of divergence times using molecular dating allowed dissection of phylogeographic patterns for argasid evolution. The discovery of cryptic species in the subgenera Chiropterargas, Ogadenus and Ornithodoros, suggests that cryptic speciation is common within the Argasidae. Cryptic speciation has implications for past biological studies of soft ticks. These are discussed in particular for the Ornithodoros (Ornithodoros) moubata and Ornithodoros (Ornithodoros) savignyi groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben J Mans
- Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, University of South Africa, South Africa.
| | - Jonathan Featherston
- The Biotechnology Platform, Agricultural Research Council-Biotechnology Platform, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
| | - Marija Kvas
- The Biotechnology Platform, Agricultural Research Council-Biotechnology Platform, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
| | - Kerry-Anne Pillay
- The Biotechnology Platform, Agricultural Research Council-Biotechnology Platform, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
| | - Daniel G de Klerk
- Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
| | - Ronel Pienaar
- Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
| | - Minique H de Castro
- Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
| | - Tom G Schwan
- Laboratory of Bacteriology, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, MT, United States
| | - Job E Lopez
- Department of Paediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Paediatric Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Pete Teel
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Adalberto A Pérez de León
- USDA-ARS Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory and Veterinary Pest Genomics Center, Kerrville, TX, United States
| | - Daniel E Sonenshine
- Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, United States; Vector Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH), Rockville, MD, United States
| | - Noble I Egekwu
- Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., United States
| | - Deon K Bakkes
- Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
| | - Heloise Heyne
- Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
| | - Esther G Kanduma
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Nairobi, P.O BOX 30197, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Nkululeko Nyangiwe
- Döhne Agricultural Development Institute, Private Bag X15, Stutterheim, 4930, South Africa
| | - Ali Bouattour
- Laboratoire d'Entomologie, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Abdalla A Latif
- School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, Westville, South Africa
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11
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Kim D, Jaworski DC, Cheng C, Nair AD, Ganta RR, Herndon N, Brown S, Park Y. The transcriptome of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, reveals molecular changes in response to infection with the pathogen, Ehrlichia chaffeensis. JOURNAL OF ASIA-PACIFIC ENTOMOLOGY 2018; 21:852-863. [PMID: 34316264 PMCID: PMC8312692 DOI: 10.1016/j.aspen.2018.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is an obligatory ectoparasite of many vertebrates and the primary vector of Ehrlichia chaffeensis, the causative agent of human monocytic ehrlichiosis. This study aimed to investigate the comparative transcriptomes of A. americanum underlying the processes of pathogen acquisition and of immunity towards the pathogen. Differential expression of the whole body transcripts in six different treatments were compared: females and males that were E. chaffeensis non-exposed, E. chaffeensis-exposed/uninfected, and E. chaffeensis-exposed/infected. The Trinity assembly pipeline produced 140,574 transcripts from trimmed and filtered total raw sequence reads (approximately 117M reads). The gold transcript set of the transcriptome data was established to minimize noise by retaining only transcripts homologous to official peptide sets of Ixodes scapularis and A. americanum ESTs and transcripts covered with high enough frequency from the raw data. Comparison of the gene ontology term enrichment analyses for the six groups tested here revealed an up-regulation of genes for defense responses against the pathogen and for the supply of intracellular Ca++ for pathogen proliferation in the pathogen-exposed ticks. Analyses of differential expression, focused on functional subcategories including immune, sialome, neuropeptides, and G protein-coupled receptor, revealed that E. chaffeensis-exposed ticks exhibited an upregulation of transcripts involved in the immune deficiency (IMD) pathway, antimicrobial peptides, Kunitz, an insulin-like peptide, and bursicon receptor over unexposed ones, while transcripts for metalloprotease were down-regulated in general. This study found that ticks exhibit enhanced expression of genes responsible for defense against E. chaffeensis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donghun Kim
- Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Deborah C. Jaworski
- Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Chuanmin Cheng
- Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Arathy D.S. Nair
- Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Roman R. Ganta
- Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Nic Herndon
- Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Susan Brown
- Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Yoonseong Park
- Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
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12
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de la Fuente J, Waterhouse RM, Sonenshine DE, Roe RM, Ribeiro JM, Sattelle DB, Hill CA. Tick Genome Assembled: New Opportunities for Research on Tick-Host-Pathogen Interactions. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2016; 6:103. [PMID: 27695689 PMCID: PMC5024572 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2016.00103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2016] [Accepted: 09/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
As tick-borne diseases are on the rise, an international effort resulted in the sequence and assembly of the first genome of a tick vector. This result promotes research on comparative, functional and evolutionary genomics and the study of tick-host-pathogen interactions to improve human, animal and ecosystem health on a global scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- José de la Fuente
- SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCMCiudad Real, Spain; Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State UniversityStillwater, OK, USA
| | - Robert M Waterhouse
- Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical SchoolGeneva, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of BioinformaticsGeneva, Switzerland; Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, MA, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - R Michael Roe
- Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Jose M Ribeiro
- Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Rockville, MD, USA
| | | | - Catherine A Hill
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University West Lafayette, IN, USA
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13
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Mans BJ, de Castro MH, Pienaar R, de Klerk D, Gaven P, Genu S, Latif AA. Ancestral reconstruction of tick lineages. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2016; 7:509-35. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2016.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2015] [Revised: 01/26/2016] [Accepted: 02/02/2016] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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14
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Zhu J, Khalil SM, Mitchell RD, Bissinger BW, Egekwu N, Sonenshine DE, Roe RM. Mevalonate-Farnesal Biosynthesis in Ticks: Comparative Synganglion Transcriptomics and a New Perspective. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0141084. [PMID: 26959814 PMCID: PMC4785029 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2015] [Accepted: 10/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Juvenile hormone (JH) controls the growth, development, metamorphosis, and reproduction of insects. For many years, the general assumption has been that JH regulates tick and other acarine development and reproduction the same as in insects. Although researchers have not been able to find the common insect JHs in hard and soft tick species and JH applications appear to have no effect on tick development, it is difficult to prove the negative or to determine whether precursors to JH are made in ticks. The tick synganglion contains regions which are homologous to the corpora allata, the biosynthetic source for JH in insects. Next-gen sequencing of the tick synganglion transcriptome was conducted separately in adults of the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, the deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, and the relapsing fever tick, Ornithodoros turicata as a new approach to determine whether ticks can make JH or a JH precursor. All of the enzymes that make up the mevalonate pathway from acetyl-CoA to farnesyl diphosphate (acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase, HMG-S, HMG-R, mevalonate kinase, phosphomevalonate kinase, diphosphomevalonate decarboxylase, and farnesyl diphosphate synthase) were found in at least one of the ticks studied but most were found in all three species. Sequence analysis of the last enzyme in the mevalonate pathway, farnesyl diphosphate synthase, demonstrated conservation of the seven prenyltransferase regions and the aspartate rich motifs within those regions typical of this enzyme. In the JH branch from farnesyl diphosphate to JH III, we found a putative farnesol oxidase used for the conversion of farnesol to farnesal in the synganglion transcriptome of I. scapularis and D. variabilis. Methyltransferases (MTs) that add a methyl group to farnesoic acid to make methyl farnesoate were present in all of the ticks studied with similarities as high as 36% at the amino acid level to insect JH acid methyltransferase (JHAMT). However, when the tick MTs were compared to the known insect JHAMTs from several insect species at the amino acid level, the former lacked the farnesoic acid binding motif typical in insects. The P450s shown in insects to add the C10,11 epoxide to methyl farnesoate, are in the CYP15 family; this family was absent in our tick transcriptomes and in the I. scapularis genome, the only tick genome available. These data suggest that ticks do not synthesize JH III but have the mevalonate pathway and may produce a JH III precursor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiwei Zhu
- Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, United States of America
| | - Sayed M. Khalil
- Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, United States of America
| | - Robert D. Mitchell
- Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, United States of America
| | - Brooke W. Bissinger
- Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, United States of America
| | - Noble Egekwu
- Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 23529, United States of America
| | - Daniel E. Sonenshine
- Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 23529, United States of America
| | - R. Michael Roe
- Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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15
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Gulia-Nuss M, Nuss AB, Meyer JM, Sonenshine DE, Roe RM, Waterhouse RM, Sattelle DB, de la Fuente J, Ribeiro JM, Megy K, Thimmapuram J, Miller JR, Walenz BP, Koren S, Hostetler JB, Thiagarajan M, Joardar VS, Hannick LI, Bidwell S, Hammond MP, Young S, Zeng Q, Abrudan JL, Almeida FC, Ayllón N, Bhide K, Bissinger BW, Bonzon-Kulichenko E, Buckingham SD, Caffrey DR, Caimano MJ, Croset V, Driscoll T, Gilbert D, Gillespie JJ, Giraldo-Calderón GI, Grabowski JM, Jiang D, Khalil SMS, Kim D, Kocan KM, Koči J, Kuhn RJ, Kurtti TJ, Lees K, Lang EG, Kennedy RC, Kwon H, Perera R, Qi Y, Radolf JD, Sakamoto JM, Sánchez-Gracia A, Severo MS, Silverman N, Šimo L, Tojo M, Tornador C, Van Zee JP, Vázquez J, Vieira FG, Villar M, Wespiser AR, Yang Y, Zhu J, Arensburger P, Pietrantonio PV, Barker SC, Shao R, Zdobnov EM, Hauser F, Grimmelikhuijzen CJP, Park Y, Rozas J, Benton R, Pedra JHF, Nelson DR, Unger MF, Tubio JMC, Tu Z, Robertson HM, Shumway M, Sutton G, Wortman JR, Lawson D, Wikel SK, Nene VM, Fraser CM, Collins FH, Birren B, Nelson KE, Caler E, Hill CA. Genomic insights into the Ixodes scapularis tick vector of Lyme disease. Nat Commun 2016; 7:10507. [PMID: 26856261 PMCID: PMC4748124 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 328] [Impact Index Per Article: 41.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2015] [Accepted: 12/12/2015] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Ticks transmit more pathogens to humans and animals than any other arthropod. We describe the 2.1 Gbp nuclear genome of the tick, Ixodes scapularis (Say), which vectors pathogens that cause Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis and other diseases. The large genome reflects accumulation of repetitive DNA, new lineages of retro-transposons, and gene architecture patterns resembling ancient metazoans rather than pancrustaceans. Annotation of scaffolds representing ∼57% of the genome, reveals 20,486 protein-coding genes and expansions of gene families associated with tick-host interactions. We report insights from genome analyses into parasitic processes unique to ticks, including host 'questing', prolonged feeding, cuticle synthesis, blood meal concentration, novel methods of haemoglobin digestion, haem detoxification, vitellogenesis and prolonged off-host survival. We identify proteins associated with the agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis, an emerging disease, and the encephalitis-causing Langat virus, and a population structure correlated to life-history traits and transmission of the Lyme disease agent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Gulia-Nuss
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Andrew B. Nuss
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Jason M. Meyer
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Daniel E. Sonenshine
- Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginina 23529, USA
| | - R. Michael Roe
- Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
| | - Robert M. Waterhouse
- Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - David B. Sattelle
- Centre for Respiratory Biology, UCL Respiratory Department, Division of Medicine, University College London, Rayne Building, 5 University Street, London WC1E 6JF, UK
| | - José de la Fuente
- SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo sn, Ciudad Real 13005, Spain
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, 250 McElroy Hall, Stillwater, Oklahama 74078, USA
| | - Jose M. Ribeiro
- Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, NIAID, Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA
| | - Karine Megy
- VectorBase/EMBL-EBI, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK
| | - Jyothi Thimmapuram
- Bioinformatics Core, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | | | | | - Sergey Koren
- J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Shelby Bidwell
- J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA
| | - Martin P. Hammond
- VectorBase/EMBL-EBI, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK
| | - Sarah Young
- Genome Sequencing and Analysis Program, Broad Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - Qiandong Zeng
- Genome Sequencing and Analysis Program, Broad Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - Jenica L. Abrudan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
| | - Francisca C. Almeida
- Departament de Genètica & Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona E-08028, Spain
| | - Nieves Ayllón
- SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo sn, Ciudad Real 13005, Spain
| | - Ketaki Bhide
- Bioinformatics Core, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Brooke W. Bissinger
- Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
| | - Elena Bonzon-Kulichenko
- Vascular Physiopathology, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares, Madrid 28029, Spain
| | - Steven D. Buckingham
- Centre for Respiratory Biology, UCL Respiratory Department, Division of Medicine, University College London, Rayne Building, 5 University Street, London WC1E 6JF, UK
| | - Daniel R. Caffrey
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA
| | - Melissa J. Caimano
- Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06030, USA
| | - Vincent Croset
- Center for Integrative Genomics, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Timothy Driscoll
- Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology Program, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
| | - Don Gilbert
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA
| | - Joseph J. Gillespie
- Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology Program, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
| | - Gloria I. Giraldo-Calderón
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
| | - Jeffrey M. Grabowski
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
- Department Biological Sciences, Markey Center for Structural Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - David Jiang
- Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
| | - Sayed M. S. Khalil
- Department of Microbial Molecular Biology, Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute, Giza 12619, Egypt
| | - Donghun Kim
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA
| | - Katherine M. Kocan
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, 250 McElroy Hall, Stillwater, Oklahama 74078, USA
| | - Juraj Koči
- Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA
| | - Richard J. Kuhn
- Department Biological Sciences, Markey Center for Structural Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Timothy J. Kurtti
- Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA
| | - Kristin Lees
- Department of Neurosystems, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
| | - Emma G. Lang
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Ryan C. Kennedy
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA
| | - Hyeogsun Kwon
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA
| | - Rushika Perera
- Department Biological Sciences, Markey Center for Structural Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Yumin Qi
- Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
| | - Justin D. Radolf
- Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06030, USA
| | - Joyce M. Sakamoto
- Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
| | - Alejandro Sánchez-Gracia
- Departament de Genètica & Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona E-08028, Spain
| | - Maiara S. Severo
- Department of Entomology, Center for Disease Vector Research, University of California, Riverside, California 92506, USA
| | - Neal Silverman
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA
| | - Ladislav Šimo
- Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA
| | - Marta Tojo
- Department of Pathology, Cambridge Genomic Services, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine-CIMUS-Instituto de Investigaciones Sanitarias, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela 15782, Spain
| | - Cristian Tornador
- Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona 08003, Spain
| | - Janice P. Van Zee
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Jesús Vázquez
- Vascular Physiopathology, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares, Madrid 28029, Spain
| | - Filipe G. Vieira
- Departament de Genètica & Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona E-08028, Spain
| | - Margarita Villar
- SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo sn, Ciudad Real 13005, Spain
| | - Adam R. Wespiser
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA
| | - Yunlong Yang
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA
| | - Jiwei Zhu
- Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
| | - Peter Arensburger
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California 91768, USA
| | | | - Stephen C. Barker
- Parasitology Section, School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Renfu Shao
- GeneCology Research Centre, Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Queensland 4556, Australia
| | - Evgeny M. Zdobnov
- Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - Frank Hauser
- Department of Biology, Center for Functional and Comparative Insect Genomics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark
| | - Cornelis J. P. Grimmelikhuijzen
- Department of Biology, Center for Functional and Comparative Insect Genomics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark
| | - Yoonseong Park
- Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA
| | - Julio Rozas
- Departament de Genètica & Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona E-08028, Spain
| | - Richard Benton
- Center for Integrative Genomics, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Joao H. F. Pedra
- Department of Entomology, Center for Disease Vector Research, University of California, Riverside, California 92506, USA
| | - David R. Nelson
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Biochemistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee 38163, USA
| | - Maria F. Unger
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
| | - Jose M. C. Tubio
- Cancer Genome Project, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton CB10 1SA, UK
- Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Immunology, University of Vigo, Vigo 36310, Spain
| | - Zhijian Tu
- Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
| | - Hugh M. Robertson
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Martin Shumway
- J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA
| | - Granger Sutton
- J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA
| | | | - Daniel Lawson
- VectorBase/EMBL-EBI, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK
| | - Stephen K. Wikel
- Department of Medical Sciences, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut 06518, USA
| | | | - Claire M. Fraser
- Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
| | - Frank H. Collins
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
| | - Bruce Birren
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | | | - Elisabet Caler
- J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA
| | - Catherine A. Hill
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
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