Quantitative Proteomics Identifies Metabolic Pathways Affected by Babesia Infection and Blood Feeding in the Sialoproteome of the Vector Rhipicephalus bursa

Abstract

The negative impact of ticks and tick-borne diseases on animals and human health is driving research to discover novel targets affecting both vectors and pathogens. The salivary glands are involved in feeding and pathogen transmission, thus are considered as a compelling target to focus research. In this study, proteomics approach was used to characterize Rhipicephalus bursa sialoproteome in response to Babesia ovis infection and blood feeding. Two potential tick protective antigens were identified and its influence in tick biological parameters and pathogen infection was evaluated. Results demonstrate that the R. bursa sialoproteome is highly affected by feeding but infection is well tolerated by tick cells. The combination of both stimuli shifts the previous scenario and a more evident pathogen manipulation can be suggested. Knockdown of ub2n led to a significative increase of infection in tick salivary glands but a brusque decrease in the progeny, revealing its importance in the cellular response to pathogen infection, which is worth pursuing in future studies. Additionally, an impact in the recovery rate of adults (62%), the egg production efficiency (45.75%), and the hatching rate (88.57 %) was detected. Building knowledge on vector and/or pathogen interplay bridges the identification of protective antigens and the development of novel control strategies.

Quantitative Visions of Reality at the Tick-Host Interface: Biochemistry, Genomics, Proteomics, and Transcriptomics as Measures of Complete Inventories of the Tick Sialoverse

“…A proteomic LC-MS/MS analysis of SGE were performed for the brown ear tick Rhipicephalus bursa (Canestrini and Fanzago, 1878) using the Ixodidae database from Genbank (Couto et al, 2020 ). SGE were prepared from unfed and fed females, which was also either infected, or not with Babesia ovis .…”

Tick salivary gland transcriptomics and proteomics

“…Only a few studies have estimated the impact of infections on the sialome, for example Rhipicephalus appendiculatus with Theileria parva 36 ; I. scapularis and I. ricinus infected with Borrelia burgdorferi 18,37 ; I. ricinus with Bartonella henselae 38 ; I. scapularis with Anaplasma phagocytophilum 39 ; Rhipicephalus bursa with Babesia ovis 40,41 ; Amblyomma aureolatum with Rickettsia rickettsia 42 ; and Rhipicephalus annulatus with Babesia bigemina 43 . Salivary proteins have been shown to play key roles in pathogen transmission, as some pathogens exploit these molecules to ensure their survival and multiplication at the tick feeding site.…”

Comparative analysis of Rhipicephalus tick salivary gland and cement elementome

“…Rhipicephalus bursa cement cones were collected using soft tissue forceps from mouthparts of manually detached females (3 pools of 5–9 ticks/pool) at 1–2 dpa (T1; slow-feeding period), 4–5 dpa (T2) and 7 dpa (T3; fast-feeding period). SG were extracted from the same dissected ticks as previously reported ( Couto et al., 2020 ). A mammalian host-derived skin or hairs attached to the cement were removed except in the case of selected R. sanguineus samples stored with attached cement cones.…”