| ixodes (ixodes) scapularis (acari:ixodidae): redescription of all active stages, distribution, hosts, geographical variation, and medical and veterinary importance. | the blacklegged tick, ixodes (ixodes) scapularis say, 1821, is redescribed, based on laboratory reared specimens originating in bulloch county, georgia. information on distribution, host associations, morphological variation, and medical/veterinary importance is also presented. a great deal of recent work has focused on this species because it is the principal vector of the agent of lyme disease (borrelia burgdorferi johnson, schmidt, hyde, steigerwaldt & brenner) in eastern north america. its d ... | 1996 | 8667375 |
| cultivation of an ovine strain of ehrlichia phagocytophila in tick cell cultures. | ehrlichia phagocytophila (previously known as cytoecetes phagocytophila) which causes tick-borne fever (tbf) in sheep and pasture fever in cattle in the uk and mainland europe is transmitted by the temperate hard tick ixodes ricinus. the disease in sheep is characterized by fever, leucopenia and immunosuppression. studies on the pathogenesis and other aspects of the disease have been hampered because the organism has not been cultivated in continuous or primary cell culture systems. this paper d ... | 2002 | 12354525 |
| transmission of anaplasma phagocytophilum to ixodes ricinus ticks from sheep in the acute and post-acute phases of infection. | a total of 60 sheep were exposed to anaplasma phagocytophilum infection on an enclosed area of ixodes ricinus-infested pasture in north wales, united kingdom, and rapidly acquired acute a. phagocytophilum infections detectable by pcr and blood smear examination. of the ticks that had engorged in the previous instar on infected sheep, 52% of adult ticks and 28% of nymphs were pcr positive; a significant, 10-fold increase in prevalence compared to that of ticks that engorged on sheep preinfection ... | 2003 | 12654828 |
| immunogenicity of ehrlichia ruminantium grown in tick cell lines. | ehrlichia (previously cowdria) ruminantium, the pathogen which causes heart-water in domestic and wild ruminants, can now be propagated in cell lines from one vector (amblyomma variegatum) and five non-vector (ixodes scapularis, i. ricinus, boophilus decoloratus, b. microplus and rhipicephalus appendiculatus) tick species. e. ruminantium isolates from west and south africa and the caribbean vary in their cell line preference, growth patterns and immunogenic capability. in laboratory trials, cert ... | 2002 | 14570129 |
| anaplasma phagocytophilum has a functional msp2 gene that is distinct from p44. | the msp2 and p44 genes encode polymorphic major outer membrane proteins that are considered unique to the intraerythrocytic agent of anaplasma marginale and the intragranulocytic agent of anaplasma phagocytophilum, respectively. in the present study, however, we found an msp2 gene in a. phagocytophilum that was remarkably conserved among a. phagocytophilum strains from human granulocytic anaplasmosis (hga) patients, ticks, and a horse from various regions in the united states, but the gene was d ... | 2004 | 15213131 |
| polymorphism and transcription at the p44-1/p44-18 genomic locus in anaplasma phagocytophilum strains from diverse geographic regions. | a polymorphic multigene family (p44) of anaplasma phagocytophilum encodes the immunodominant 44-kda major outer membrane proteins. with p44-specific pcr and gene-specific probes, p44-1 was found in all human isolates from new york state but not in isolates from minnesota, whereas p44-18 and two other p44 species were found in isolates from both regions. we therefore sequenced the genomic locus corresponding to the p44-1/p44-18 tandem locus of a. phagocytophilum hz in 14 other geographically dive ... | 2004 | 15385454 |
| serologic cross-reactivity between anaplasma marginale and anaplasma phagocytophilum. | in the context of a serosurvey conducted on the anaplasma marginale prevalence in swiss cattle, we suspected that a serological cross-reactivity between a. marginale and a. phagocytophilum might exist. in the present study we demonstrate that cattle, sheep and horses experimentally infected with a. phagocytophilum not only develop antibodies to a. phagocytophilum (detected by immunofluorescent-antibody assay) but also to a. marginale (detected by a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). ... | 2005 | 16210480 |
| variability and action mechanism of a family of anticomplement proteins in ixodes ricinus. | ticks are blood feeding arachnids that characteristically take a long blood meal. they must therefore counteract host defence mechanisms such as hemostasis, inflammation and the immune response. this is achieved by expressing batteries of salivary proteins coded by multigene families. | 2008 | 18167559 |
| molecular evolution of cide family proteins: novel domain formation in early vertebrates and the subsequent divergence. | cide family proteins including cidea, cideb and cidec/fsp27, contain an n-terminal cide-n domain that shares sequence similarity to the n-terminal cad domain (ncd) of dna fragmentation factors dffa/dff45/icad and dffb/dff40/cad, and a unique c-terminal cide-c domain. we have previously shown that cide proteins are newly emerged regulators closely associated with the development of metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and liver steatosis. they modulate many metabolic processes such as lip ... | 2008 | 18500987 |
| identification of residual blood proteins in ticks by mass spectrometry proteomics. | mass spectrometry-based proteomics of individual ticks demonstrated persistence of mammalian host blood components, including alpha- and beta-globin chains, histones, and mitochondrial enzymes, in ixodes scapularis and amblyomma americanum ticks for months after molting. residual host proteins may identify sources of infection for ticks. | 2008 | 18680654 |
| experimental vaccination of sheep and cattle against tick infestation using recombinant 5'-nucleotidase. | limited prior evidence suggests that 5'-nucleotidase, an ectoenzyme principally located in the malpighian tubules of the tick rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus, could be an effective antigen in an anti-tick vaccine. to assess this, recombinant 5'-nucleotidase was expressed in escherichia coli and used in vaccination trials with both sheep and cattle. vaccinated sheep were challenged with freshly moulted adult ticks. those with high titres of anti-nucleotidase antibodies showed significant prot ... | 2010 | 20070827 |
| [ehrlichiosis/anaplasmosis]. | ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis are zoonoses caused by bacteria from the family anaplasmataceae, including human and animal pathogens. the human pathogens are ehrlichia chaffeensis, the causative agent of human monocytic ehrlichiosis (hme), anaplasma phagocytophilum, the pathogen causing human granulocytic anaplasmosis (hga), e. ewingii and neorickettsia sennetsu, granulocytotropic and monocytotropic ehrlichia species, respectively. ehrlichia spp. are small, gram-negative, obligate intracellular b ... | 2009 | 20077398 |
| application of highly sensitive saturation labeling to the analysis of differential protein expression in infected ticks from limited samples. | abstract: | 2010 | 20704695 |
| phylogenomics of ligand-gated ion channels predicts monepantel effect. | the recently launched veterinary anthelmintic drench for sheep (novartis animal health inc., switzerland) containing the nematocide monepantel represents a new class of anthelmintics: the amino-acetonitrile derivatives (aads), much needed in view of widespread resistance to the classical drugs. recently, it was shown that the acr-23 protein in caenorhabditis elegans and a homologous protein, mptl-1 in haemonchus contortus, are potential targets for aad action. both proteins belong to the deg-3 s ... | 2010 | 20838602 |
| distinct host species correlate with anaplasma phagocytophilum anka gene clusters. | anaplasma phagocytophilum is a gram-negative, tick-transmitted, obligate intracellular bacterium that elicits acute febrile diseases in humans and domestic animals. in contrast to the united states, human granulocytic anaplasmosis seems to be a rare disease in europe despite the initial recognition of a. phagocytophilum as the causative agent of tick-borne fever in european sheep and cattle. considerable strain variation has been suggested to occur within this species, because isolates from huma ... | 2010 | 21177886 |
| detection and differentiation of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in ticks collected from sheep and cattle in china. | abstract: | 2011 | 21529349 |
| contrasting emergence of lyme disease across ecosystems. | global environmental changes are causing lyme disease to emerge in europe. the life cycle of ixodes ricinus, the tick vector of lyme disease, involves an ontogenetic niche shift, from the larval and nymphal stages utilizing a wide range of hosts, picking up the pathogens causing lyme disease from small vertebrates, to the adult stage depending on larger (non-transmission) hosts, typically deer. because of this complexity the role of different host species for emergence of lyme disease remains co ... | 2016 | 27306947 |
| the recent evolution of a maternally-inherited endosymbiont of ticks led to the emergence of the q fever pathogen, coxiella burnetii. | q fever is a highly infectious disease with a worldwide distribution. its causative agent, the intracellular bacterium coxiella burnetii, infects a variety of vertebrate species, including humans. its evolutionary origin remains almost entirely unknown and uncertainty persists regarding the identity and lifestyle of its ancestors. a few tick species were recently found to harbor maternally-inherited coxiella-like organisms engaged in symbiotic interactions, but their relationships to the q fever ... | 2015 | 25978383 |
| genetic analysis of loop sequences in the let-7 gene family reveal a relationship between loop evolution and multiple isomirs. | while mature mirnas have been widely studied, the terminal loop sequences are rarely examined despite regulating both primary and mature mirna functions. herein, we attempted to understand the evolutionary pattern of loop sequences by analyzing loops in the let-7 gene family. compared to the stable mirna length distributions seen in most metazoans, higher metazoan species exhibit a longer length distribution. examination of these loop sequence length distributions, in addition to phylogenetic tr ... | 2014 | 25397967 |
| membrane-associated collagens with interrupted triple-helices (macits): evolution from a bilaterian common ancestor and functional conservation in c. elegans. | collagens provide structural support and guidance cues within the extracellular matrix of metazoans. mammalian collagens xiii, xxiii and xxv form a unique subgroup of type ii transmembrane proteins, each comprising a short n-terminal cytosolic domain, a transmembrane domain and a largely collagenous ectodomain. we name these collagens as macits (membrane-associated collagens with interrupted triple-helices), and here investigate their evolution and conserved properties. to date, these collagens ... | 2015 | 26667623 |
| evolutionary history of the vertebrate mitogen activated protein kinases family. | the mitogen activated protein kinases (mapk) family pathway is implicated in diverse cellular processes and pathways essential to most organisms. its evolution is conserved throughout the eukaryotic kingdoms. however, the detailed evolutionary history of the vertebrate mapk family is largely unclear. | 2011 | 22046431 |
| soluble proteins of chemical communication: an overview across arthropods. | detection of chemical signals both in insects and in vertebrates is mediated by soluble proteins, highly concentrated in olfactory organs, which bind semiochemicals and activate, with still largely unknown mechanisms, specific chemoreceptors. the same proteins are often found in structures where pheromones are synthesized and released, where they likely perform a second role in solubilizing and delivering chemical messengers in the environment. a single class of soluble polypeptides, called odor ... | 2014 | 25221516 |
| outlining eicosanoid biosynthesis in the crustacean daphnia. | eicosanoids are biologically active, oxygenated metabolites of three c20 polyunsaturated fatty acids. they act as signalling molecules within the autocrine or paracrine system in both vertebrates and invertebrates mainly functioning as important mediators in reproduction, the immune system and ion transport. the biosynthesis of eicosanoids has been intensively studied in mammals and it is known that they are synthesised from the fatty acid, arachidonic acid, through either the cyclooxygenase (co ... | 2008 | 18625039 |
| comparative genomics of first available bovine anaplasma phagocytophilum genome obtained with targeted sequence capture. | anaplasma phagocytophilum is a zoonotic and obligate intracellular bacterium transmitted by ticks. in domestic ruminants, it is the causative agent of tick-borne fever, which causes significant economic losses in europe. as a. phagocytophilum is difficult to isolate and cultivate, only nine genome sequences have been published to date, none of which originate from a bovine strain.our goals were to; 1/ develop a sequencing methodology which efficiently circumvents the difficulties associated with ... | 2014 | 25400116 |
| conservation of complete trimethylation of lysine-43 in the rotor ring of c-subunits of metazoan adenosine triphosphate (atp) synthases. | the rotors of atp synthases turn about 100 times every second. one essential component of the rotor is a ring of hydrophobic c-subunits in the membrane domain of the enzyme. the rotation of these c-rings is driven by a transmembrane proton-motive force, and they turn against a surface provided by another membrane protein, known as subunit a. together, the rotating c-ring and the static subunit a provide a pathway for protons through the membrane in which the c-ring and subunit a are embedded. ve ... | 2015 | 25608518 |
| opening the black box of anaplasma phagocytophilum diversity: current situation and future perspectives. | anaplasma phagocytophilum is a zoonotic obligate intracellular bacterium known to be transmitted by ticks belonging to the ixodes persulcatus complex. this bacterium can infect several mammalian species, and is known to cause diseases with variable symptoms in many domestic animals. specifically, it is the causative agent of tick-borne fever (tbf), a disease of important economic impact in european domestic ruminants, and human granulocytic anaplasmosis (hga), an emerging zoonotic disease in asi ... | 2015 | 26322277 |
| a new multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis reveals different clusters for anaplasma phagocytophilum circulating in domestic and wild ruminants. | anaplasma phagocytophilum is a tick-borne intragranulocytic alpha-proteobacterium. it is the causative agent of tick-borne fever in ruminants, and of human granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans, two diseases which are becoming increasingly recognized in europe and the usa. however, while several molecular typing tools have been developed over the last years, few of them are appropriate for in-depth exploration of the epidemiological cycle of this bacterium. therefore we have developed a multiple-l ... | 2014 | 25228371 |
| dermacentor reticulatus: a vector on the rise. | dermacentor reticulatus is a hard tick species with extraordinary biological features. it has a high reproduction rate, a rapid developmental cycle, and is also able to overcome years of unfavourable conditions. dermacentor reticulatus can survive under water for several months and is cold-hardy even compared to other tick species. it has a wide host range: over 60 different wild and domesticated hosts are known for the three active developmental stages. its high adaptiveness gives an edge to th ... | 2016 | 27251148 |
| anaplasma phagocytophilum in questing ixodes ricinus ticks: comparison of prevalences and partial 16s rrna gene variants in urban, pasture, and natural habitats. | urban, natural, and pasture areas were investigated for prevalences and 16s rrna gene variants of anaplasma phagocytophilum in questing ixodes ricinus ticks. the prevalences differed significantly between habitat types, and year-to-year variations in prevalence and habitat-dependent occurrence of 16s rrna gene variants were detected. | 2012 | 23263964 |
| generation, analysis and functional annotation of expressed sequence tags from the ectoparasitic mite psoroptes ovis. | abstract: background: sheep scab is caused by psoroptes ovis and is arguably the most important ectoparasitic disease affecting sheep in the uk. the disease is highly contagious and causes and considerable pruritis and irritation and is therefore a major welfare concern. current methods of treatment are unsustainable and in order to elucidate novel methods of disease control a more comprehensive understanding of the parasite is required. to date, no full genomic dna sequence or large scale trans ... | 2011 | 21781297 |
| widespread endogenization of densoviruses and parvoviruses in animal and human genomes. | parvoviruses infect humans and a broad range of animals, from mammals to crustaceans and generally are associated with a variety of acute and chronic diseases. however, many others cause persistent infections and are not known to be associated with any disease. viral persistence is likely related to the ability to integrate into the chromosomal dna and to establish a latent infection. however, there is little evidence for genome integration of parvoviral dna except for adeno-associated virus (aa ... | 2011 | 21795360 |
| attachment site selection of ticks on roe deer, capreolus capreolus. | the spatio-temporal attachment site patterns of ticks feeding on their hosts can be of significance if co-feeding transmission (i.e. from tick to tick without a systemic infection of the host) of pathogens affects the persistence of a given disease. using tick infestation data on roe deer, we analysed preferred attachment sites and niche width of ixodes ticks (larvae, nymphs, males, females) and investigated the degree of inter- and intrastadial aggregation. the different development stages show ... | 2011 | 20585837 |
| feeding-associated gene expression in sheep scab mites (psoroptes ovis). | the mite psoroptes ovis is the causative agent of sheep scab. although not usually fatal, the disease can spread rapidly and is a serious animal welfare concern. vaccine development against ectoparasites has primarily focussed on two sources of candidate vaccine antigens - "exposed" antigens that are secreted in saliva during feeding on a host and "concealed" antigens that are usually expressed in the parasite gut and may be involved in digestion. here, we sought to identify genes encoding prote ... | 2010 | 19852923 |
| experimental in vitro transmission of babesia sp. (eu1) by ixodes ricinus. | babesia sp. (eu1), first characterized in 2003, has been implicated in human cases of babesiosis in italy, austria and germany. it has been identified in roe deer and in its suspected tick vector, ixodes ricinus, in several european countries. the aim of the present study was to validate the competence of i. ricinus as a vector of babesia sp. (eu1) via experimental infections. for this purpose, a parasite strain isolated from roe deer was cloned in sheep erythrocytes. after experimental infectio ... | 2009 | 19210953 |
| molecular characterization, expression and localization of a peroxiredoxin from the sheep scab mite, psoroptes ovis. | the sheep scab mite, psoroptes ovis, induces an intensely pruritic exudative dermatitis which is responsible for restlessness, loss of appetite and weight loss. within the first 24 h of infection, there is a rapid inflammatory influx of eosinophils and apoptosis of the keratinocytes at the site of infection. the former cell type is capable of a sustained respiratory burst, toxic products of which may directly damage the mite and also contribute to lesion formation. analysis of a p. ovis expresse ... | 2009 | 19195412 |
| in vitro isolation of ehrlichia ruminantium from ovine blood into ixodes scapularis (ide8) cell cultures. | four stocks of ehrlichia ruminantium (welgevonden, ball3, nonile and blaauwkrans), the causative agent of heartwater in domestic ruminants, were isolated into ixodes scapularis (ide8) tick cells using the leukocyte fraction of the blood of infected sheep. organisms of two of the e. ruminantium stocks (welgevonden and blaauwkrans) propagated in ide8 cells were also successfully used to infect bovine endothelial cells. all stocks were successfully propagated in ide8 cells using dulbecco's modified ... | 2008 | 18788205 |
| babesia spp. identified by pcr in ticks collected from domestic and wild ruminants in southern switzerland. | concurrent infections with vector-borne pathogens affected a cattle herd in switzerland, and one of the pathogens was identified as babesia bigemina, which had never been observed in this country before. therefore, a survey of the occurrence of ruminant babesia spp. and their tick vectors in switzerland was conducted. a total of 2,017 ticks were collected from sheep, goats, cattle, and wild ruminants (deer, roe deer, and chamois) in southern parts of switzerland and identified morphologically. t ... | 2006 | 17021198 |
| bioinformatics and multiepitope dna immunization to design rational snake antivenom. | snake venom is a potentially lethal and complex mixture of hundreds of functionally diverse proteins that are difficult to purify and hence difficult to characterize. these difficulties have inhibited the development of toxin-targeted therapy, and conventional antivenom is still generated from the sera of horses or sheep immunized with whole venom. although life-saving, antivenoms contain an immunoglobulin pool of unknown antigen specificity and known redundancy, which necessitates the delivery ... | 2006 | 16737347 |
| new ruminant hosts and wider geographic range identified for babesia odocoilei (emerson and wright 1970). | babesia odocoilei was found to infect two previously unknown host species, desert bighorn sheep (ovis canadensis nelsoni) and musk oxen (ovibos moschatus), both of which are members of the family bovidae. previously, b. odocoilei has been reported in only cervidae hosts. new geographic regions where b. odocoilei infections have not been reported previously include pennsylvania and new york, where fatal babesiosis has occurred in reindeer (rangifer tarandus tarandus); new hampshire, where elk (ce ... | 2005 | 16456156 |
| vaccination with recombinant tick antigens for the control of ixodes scapularis adult infestations. | antigens protective against ixodes scapularis infestations were identified by cdna expression library immunization (eli) and analysis of expressed sequenced tags (est). three cdnas protective against larval tick infestations, 4f8, with homology to a nucleotidase, and 4d8 and 4e6 of unknown function, were characterized and obtained as recombinant proteins for immunization studies. vaccination trials with recombinant proteins demonstrated an effect of these antigens against i. scapularis larvae in ... | 2005 | 16153760 |
| a relapsing fever group spirochete transmitted by ixodes scapularis ticks. | a species of borrelia spirochetes previously unknown from north america has been found to be transmitted by ixodes scapularis ticks. infected ticks are positive for borrelia spp. by dfa test but negative for borrelia burgdorferi by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) using species-specific primers for 16s rdna, outer surface protein a, outer surface protein c, and flagellin genes. a 1,347-bp portion of 16s rdna was amplified from a pool of infected nymphs, sequenced, and compared with the homologous ... | 2001 | 12653133 |
| diversity of babesia infecting european sheep ticks (ixodes ricinus). | questing ixodes ricinus (acari: ixodidae) adult and nymphal ticks collected in various parts of slovenia were tested for the presence of babesial parasites with a pcr assay based on the nuclear small subunit rrna gene (nss-ribosomal dna [rdna]). thirteen of 135 ticks were found to contain babesial dna. sequence determination and analysis of amplified portions of nss-rdna revealed their identity with babesia microti and a high degree of homology with babesia odocoilei and babesia divergens. the r ... | 2001 | 11526189 |
| isolation and molecular cloning of a secreted immunosuppressant protein from dermacentor andersoni salivary gland. | a 36-kda immunosuppressant protein (da-p36) was isolated from salivary glands of feeding female ixodid ticks dermacentor andersoni, using its affinity for ultralink biosupport medium (pierce, rockford, illinois)/protein complexes. using a nested set of forward degenerate oligonucleotide primers corresponding to da-p36 n-terminal amino acids, a cdna encoding the immunosuppressant protein was isolated by 3' rapid amplification of cdna ends. the resulting 772-base pair cdna encodes a novel protein ... | 2000 | 10864249 |
| vitellogenin and ecdysteroid titers in ixodes scapularis during vitellogenesis. | ecdysteroids are the only hormones unequivocally identified thus far in ticks. we found a positive correlation between ecdysteroid concentration and vitellogenin synthesis in female ixodes scapularis. vitellogenin (vg) synthetic activity was measured by an in vitro assay for vg, involving incubations of the fat body with 35s-methionine and immunoprecipitation collected on a solid-phase matrix, protein a. vitellogenin synthetic activity in the fat body was undetectable in unfed females but was de ... | 1997 | 9267393 |
| amblyomma americanum: identification of tick salivary gland antigens from unfed and early feeding females with comparisons to ixodes dammini and dermacentor variabilis. | salivary gland antigens involved in host resistance to tick feeding by amblyomma americanum (lone star tick) have been identified. gland extracts from unfed and partially fed 12-, 48-, 72-, 96-, and 120-hr females and their corresponding midgut tissues were analyzed by immunoblotting with sera from naturally immune and hyperimmune sheep and rabbits. polypeptides at 90, 75, 58, 45, 33, and 23 kda from the salivary glands of a. americanum females were consistently observed with antibodies from bot ... | 1990 | 2298277 |