Association of pathogen strain-specific gene transcription and transmission efficiency phenotype of Anaplasma marginale

Tissue distribution of the Ehrlichia muris-like agent in a tick vector

Human pathogens transmitted by ticks undergo complex life cycles alternating between the arthropod vector and a mammalian host. While the latter has been investigated to a greater extent, examination of the biological interactions between microbes and the ticks that carry them presents an equally important opportunity for disruption of the disease cycle. In this study, we used in situ hybridization to demonstrate infection by the Ehrlichia muris-like organism, a newly recognized human pathogen, of Ixodes scapularis ticks, a primary vector for several important human disease agents. This allowed us to assess whole sectioned ticks for the patterns of tissue invasion, and demonstrate generalized dissemination of ehrlichiae in a variety of cell types and organs within ticks infected naturally via blood feeding. Electron microscopy was used to confirm these results. Here we describe a strong ehrlichial affinity for epithelial cells, neuronal cells of the synganglion, salivary glands, and male accessory glands.

Global transcriptional analysis reveals surface remodeling of Anaplasma marginale in the tick vector

BACKGROUND

Pathogens dependent upon vectors for transmission to new hosts undergo environment specific changes in gene transcription dependent on whether they are replicating in the vector or the mammalian host. Differential gene transcription, especially of potential vaccine candidates, is of interest in Anaplasma marginale, the tick-borne causative agent of bovine anaplasmosis.

METHODS

RNA-seq technology allowed a comprehensive analysis of the transcriptional status of A. marginale genes in two conditions: bovine host blood and tick derived cell culture, a model for the tick vector. Quantitative PCR was used to assess transcription of a set of genes in A. marginale infected tick midguts and salivary glands at two time points during the transmission cycle.

RESULTS

Genes belonging to fourteen pathways or component groups were found to be differentially transcribed in A. marginale in the bovine host versus the tick vector. One of the most significantly altered groups was composed of surface proteins. Of the 56 genes included in the surface protein group, eight were up regulated and 26 were down regulated. The down regulated surface protein encoding genes include several that are well studied due to their immunogenicity and function. Quantitative PCR of a set of genes demonstrated that transcription in tick cell culture most closely approximates transcription in salivary glands of recently infected ticks.

CONCLUSIONS

The ISE6 tick cell culture line is an acceptable model for early infection in tick salivary glands, and reveals disproportionate down regulation of surface protein genes in the tick. Transcriptional profiling in other cell lines may help us simulate additional microenvironments. Understanding vector-specific alteration of gene transcription, especially of surface protein encoding genes, may aid in the development of vaccines or transmission blocking therapies.

Identification of multilocus genetic heterogeneity in Anaplasma marginale subsp. centrale and its restriction following tick-borne transmission

Anaplasma marginale subsp. centrale was the first vaccine used to protect against a rickettsial disease and is still in widespread use a century later. As its use preceded development of either cryopreservation or cell culture, the vaccine strain was maintained for decades by sequential passage among donor animals, excluding the natural tick-borne transmission cycle that provides a selective pressure or population "bottleneck." We demonstrated that the vaccine strain is genetically heterogeneous at 46 chromosomal loci and that heterogeneity was maintained upon inoculation into recipient animals. The number of variants per site ranged from 2 to 11 with a mean of 2.8/locus and a mode and median of 2/locus; variants included single-nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions/deletions, polynucleotide tracts, and different numbers of perfect repeats. The genetic heterogeneity is highly unlikely to be a result of strain contamination based on analysis using a panel of eight gene markers with a high power for strain discrimination. In contrast, heterogeneity appears to be a result of genetic drift in the absence of the restriction of tick passage. Heterogeneity could be reduced following tick passage, and the reduced heterogeneity could be maintained in sequential intravenous and tick-borne passages. The reduction in vaccine strain heterogeneity following tick passage did not confer an enhanced transmission phenotype, indicating that a stochastically determined population bottleneck was likely responsible as opposed to a positive selective pressure. These findings demonstrate the plasticity of an otherwise highly constrained genome and highlight the role of natural transmission cycles in shaping and maintaining the bacterial genome.

Tick-borne diseases in cattle: applications of proteomics to develop new generation vaccines

Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) affect 80% of the world's cattle population, hampering livestock production throughout the world. Livestock industry is important to rural populations not only as food supply, but also as a source of income. Tick control is usually achieved by using acaricides which are expensive, deleterious to the environment and can induce chemical resistance of vectors; the development of more effective and sustainable control methods is therefore required. Theileriosis, babesiosis, anaplasmosis and heartwater are the most important TBDs in cattle. Immunization strategies are currently available but with variable efficacy. To develop a new generation of vaccines which are more efficient, cheaper and safer, it is first necessary to better understand the mechanisms by which these parasites are transmitted, multiply and cause disease; this becomes especially difficult due to their complex life cycles, in vitro culture conditions and the lack of genetic tools to manipulate them. Proteomics and other complementary post-genomic tools such as transcriptomics and metabolomics in a systems biology context are becoming key tools to increase knowledge on the biology of infectious diseases. Herein, we present an overview of the so called "Omics" studies currently available on these tick-borne pathogens, giving emphasis to proteomics and how it may help to discover new vaccine candidates to control TBDs.