| argas (argas) monolakensis, new species (acari: ixodoidea: argasidae), a parasite of california gulls on islands in mono lake, california: description, biology, and life cycle. | argas (argas) monolakensis, n. sp., is described from adults, nymphs, and larvae collected from under and around nests of california gulls, larus californicus lawrence, on islands in mono lake, mono county, calif., and from specimens reared in the laboratory. this species is closely related to a. cooleyi kohls & hoogstraal, a parasite of cliff swallows, hirundo pyrrhonota vieillot, but is easily distinguished by hypostome dentition and roof of haller's organ in all stages and chaetotaxy of the l ... | 1992 | 1552533 |
| characterization of orbiviruses of the kemerovo serogroup: isolations and serological comparisons. | nine orbiviruses of the kemerovo serogroup were isolated from ticks collected in seabird colonies situated in the u.k., faeroe islands, norway, morocco and california, u.s.a. comparison by serological tests with previously reported members of the kemerovo serogroup demonstrated that viruses isolated from the hard tick, ixodes uriae, were members of the great island subgroup, whereas viruses from soft ticks, argas monolakensis and ornithodoros maritimus, belonged to the chenuda subgroup. members ... | 1986 | 3753199 |
| new tick defensin isoform and antimicrobial gene expression in response to rickettsia montanensis challenge. | recent studies aimed at elucidating the rickettsia-tick interaction have discovered that the spotted fever group rickettsia rickettsia montanensis, a relative of r. rickettsii, the etiologic agent of rocky mountain spotted fever, induces differential gene expression patterns in the ovaries of the hard tick dermacentor variabilis. here we describe a new defensin isoform, defensin-2, and the expression patterns of genes for three antimicrobials, defensin-1 (vsna1), defensin-2, and lysozyme, in the ... | 2007 | 17261604 |
| an insight into the sialome of the oriental rat flea, xenopsylla cheopis (rots). | the salivary glands of hematophagous animals contain a complex cocktail that interferes with the host hemostasis and inflammation pathways, thus increasing feeding success. fleas represent a relatively recent group of insects that evolved hematophagy independently of other insect orders. | 2007 | 17437641 |
| an insight into the sialome of the soft tick, ornithodorus parkeri. | while hard ticks (ixodidae) take several days to feed on their hosts, soft ticks (argasidae) feed faster, usually taking less than 1h per meal. saliva assists in the feeding process by providing a cocktail of anti-hemostatic, anti-inflammatory and immunomodullatory compounds. saliva of hard ticks has been shown to contain several families of genes each having multiple members, while those of soft ticks are relatively unexplored. analysis of the salivary transcriptome of the soft tick ornithodoru ... | 2008 | 18070662 |
| characterization of anti-hemostatic factors in the argasid, argas monolakensis: implications for the evolution of blood-feeding in the soft tick family. | to date, the only anti-hemostatic factors characterized for softs ticks are for ornithodoros moubata and ornithodoros savignyi, ticks that feeds mainly on mammals. this includes thrombin (ornithodorin and savignin), fxa (tap and fxai) and platelet aggregation (disagegin and savignygrin) inhibitors that belong to the bpti-kunitz protein family. this raises the question on how well anti-hemostatic factors will be conserved in other soft tick genera that feeds on other vertebrates such as birds. we ... | 2008 | 18070663 |
| comparative sialomics between hard and soft ticks: implications for the evolution of blood-feeding behavior. | ticks evolved various mechanisms to modulate their host's hemostatic and immune defenses. differences in the anti-hemostatic repertoires suggest that hard and soft ticks evolved anti-hemostatic mechanisms independently, but raise questions on the conservation of salivary gland proteins in the ancestral tick lineage. to address this issue, the sialome (salivary gland secretory proteome) from the soft tick, argas monolakensis, was determined by proteomic analysis and cdna library construction of s ... | 2008 | 18070664 |
| molecular evidence for a novel coxiella from argas monolakensis (acari: argasidae) from mono lake, california, usa. | argasid ticks are vectors of viral and bacterial agents of humans and animals. recent reports indicate that some ornithophilic argasids harbored rickettsial agents. a nearctic tick, argas monolakensis schwan, corwin, brown is ornithophilic and has not previously been examined for rickettsial agents. thirty adult a. monolakensis were tested by pcr for dna from rickettsia or coxiella. amplicons from a coxiella sp. that were divergent from coxiella burnetii were detected in 16/30 a. monolakensis. t ... | 2008 | 18247143 |
| structure, function, and evolution of biogenic amine-binding proteins in soft ticks. | two highly abundant lipocalins, monomine and monotonin, have been isolated from the salivary gland of the soft tick argas monolakensis and shown to bind histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-ht), respectively. the crystal structures of monomine and a paralog of monotonin were determined in the presence of ligands to compare the determinants of ligand binding. both the structures and binding measurements indicate that the proteins have a single binding site rather than the two sites previously des ... | 2008 | 18445596 |
| insight into the sialome of the castor bean tick, ixodes ricinus. | in recent years, there have been several sialome projects revealing transcripts expressed in the salivary glands of ticks, which are important vectors of several human diseases. here, we focused on the sialome of the european vector of lyme disease, ixodes ricinus. | 2008 | 18489795 |
| a novel clade of cysteinyl leukotriene scavengers in soft ticks. | inflammation is an important vertebrate defense mechanism against ecto-parasites for which ticks have evolved numerous mechanisms of modulation. am-33 and tsgp4, related lipocalins from the soft ticks argas monolakensis and ornithodoros savignyi bind cysteinyl leukotrienes with high affinity as measured by isothermal titration calorimetry. this was confirmed in a smooth muscle bioassay that measured contraction of guinea pig ileum induced by leukotriene c4 where both proteins inhibited contracti ... | 2008 | 18675910 |
| function, mechanism and evolution of the moubatin-clade of soft tick lipocalins. | the "moubatin-clade" of soft tick lipocalins, although monophyletic, shows clear signs of paralogy as indicated by the various functions associated with this protein family. this includes anti-platelet (moubatin), anti-complement (omci) and toxic (tsgp2) activities in the vertebrate host. in order to understand the evolution of function and how it relates to the various paralogs in this clade, we characterized a number of different proteins in regard to undefined function and mechanism. by utili ... | 2008 | 18694828 |
| an insight into the salivary transcriptome and proteome of the soft tick and vector of epizootic bovine abortion, ornithodoros coriaceus. | the salivary glands of blood-sucking arthropods contain a redundant 'magic potion' that counteracts their vertebrate host's hemostasis, inflammation, and immunity. we here describe the salivary transcriptome and proteomics (sialome) of the soft tick ornithodoros coriaceus. the resulting analysis helps to consolidate the classification of common proteins found in both soft and hard ticks, such as the lipocalins, kunitz, cystatin, basic tail, hebraein, defensin, til domain, metalloprotease, 5'-nuc ... | 2008 | 18725333 |
| exploring the mialome of ticks: an annotated catalogue of midgut transcripts from the hard tick, dermacentor variabilis (acari: ixodidae). | ticks are obligate blood feeders. the midgut is the first major region of the body where blood and microbes ingested with the blood meal come in contact with the tick's internal tissues. little is known about protein expression in the digestive tract of ticks. in this study, for analysis of global gene expression during tick attachment and feeding, we generated and sequenced 1,679 random transcripts (ests) from cdna libraries from the midguts of female ticks at varying stages of feeding. | 2008 | 19021911 |
| ir-lbp, an ixodes ricinus tick salivary ltb4-binding lipocalin, interferes with host neutrophil function. | during their blood meal, ticks secrete a wide variety of proteins that can interfere with their host's defense mechanisms. among these proteins, lipocalins play a major role in the modulation of the inflammatory response. | 2008 | 19096526 |
| ixodes ricinus tick lipocalins: identification, cloning, phylogenetic analysis and biochemical characterization. | during their blood meal, ticks secrete a wide variety of proteins that interfere with their host's defense mechanisms. among these proteins, lipocalins play a major role in the modulation of the inflammatory response. | 2008 | 19096708 |
| functional characterization of a salivary apyrase from the sand fly, phlebotomus duboscqi, a vector of leishmania major. | two transcripts coding for proteins homologous to apyrases were identified by massive sequencing of a phlebotomus (p.) duboscqi salivary gland cdna library. the sequence analysis revealed that the amino acids important for enzymatic activity including nucleotidase activity and the binding of calcium and nucleotides were well conserved in these molecules. a recombinant p. duboscqi salivary apyrase was expressed in escherichia coli and purified. the resulting protein efficiently hydrolyzed adp and ... | 2009 | 19651132 |
| searching for new clues about the molecular cause of endomyocardial fibrosis by way of in silico proteomics and analytical chemistry. | endomyocardial fibrosis (emf) -is a chronic inflammatory disease of the heart with related pathology to that of late stage chaga's disease. indeed, both diseases are thought to result from auto-immune responses against myocardial tissue. as is the case that molecular mimicry between the acidic termini of trypanosoma cruzi ribosomal p0, p1 and p2beta (or simply tcp0, tcp1, and tcp2beta) proteins and myocardial tissue causes chaga's disease, excessive exposure to certain infections, toxins includi ... | 2009 | 19823676 |
| structure and mode of action of microplusin, a copper ii-chelating antimicrobial peptide from the cattle tick rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus. | microplusin, a rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus antimicrobial peptide (amp) is the first fully characterized member of a new family of cysteine-rich amps with histidine-rich regions at the n and c termini. in the tick, microplusin belongs to the arsenal of innate defense molecules active against bacteria and fungi. here we describe the nmr solution structure of microplusin and demonstrate that the protein binds copper ii and iron ii. structured as a single alpha-helical globular domain, micro ... | 2009 | 19828445 |
| crystal structure of histamine dehydrogenase from nocardioides simplex. | histamine dehydrogenase (hadh) isolated from nocardioides simplex catalyzes the oxidative deamination of histamine to imidazole acetaldehyde. hadh is highly specific for histamine, and we are interested in understanding the recognition mode of histamine in its active site. we describe the first crystal structure of a recombinant form of hadh (hadh) to 2.7-a resolution. hadh is a homodimer, where each 76-kda subunit contains an iron-sulfur cluster ([4fe-4s](2+)) and a 6-s-cysteinyl flavin mononuc ... | 2010 | 20538584 |
| invasion of mosquito salivary glands by malaria parasites: prerequisites and defense strategies. | the interplay between vector and pathogen is essential for vector-borne disease transmission. dissecting the molecular basis of refractoriness of some vectors may pave the way to novel disease control mechanisms. a pathogen often needs to overcome several physical barriers, such as the peritrophic matrix, midgut epithelium and salivary glands. additionally, the arthropod vector elicites immune responses that can severely limit transmission success. one important step in the transmission of most ... | 2010 | 20621627 |
| bloodmeal size and spirochete acquisition of ornithodoros hermsi (acari: argasidae) during feeding. | ornithodoros hermsi wheeler (acari: argasidae) is the vector of borrelia hermsii, the primary cause of tick-borne relapsing fever in north america. this tick is one of the smallest ornithodoros species involved with the biological transmission of spirochetes; yet, the amount of blood ingested while feeding is unknown. therefore, we determined the amount of blood o. hermsi ingested during a bloodmeal to establish its potential for spirochete acquisition while feeding on an infected host. ticks at ... | 2010 | 21175068 |
| multiple changes in peptide and lipid expression associated with regeneration in the nervous system of the medicinal leech. | the adult medicinal leech central nervous system (cns) is capable of regenerating specific synaptic circuitry after a mechanical lesion, displaying evidence of anatomical repair within a few days and functional recovery within a few weeks. in the present work, spatiotemporal changes in molecular distributions during this phenomenon are explored. moreover, the hypothesis that neural regeneration involves some molecular factors initially employed during embryonic neural development is tested. | 2011 | 21526169 |
| a snapshot of the ixodes scapularis degradome. | parasitic encoded proteases are essential to regulating interactions between parasites and their hosts and thus they represent attractive anti-parasitic druggable and/or vaccine target. we have utilized annotations of ixodes scapularis proteases in gene bank and version 9.3 merops database to compile an index of at least 233 putatively active and 150 putatively inactive protease enzymes that are encoded by the i. scapularis genome. the 233 putatively active protease homologs hereafter referred t ... | 2011 | 21596113 |
| An insight into the sialotranscriptome and proteome of the coarse bontlegged tick, Hyalomma marginatum rufipes. | Ticks are mites specialized in acquiring blood from vertebrates as their sole source of food and are important disease vectors to humans and animals. Among the specializations required for this peculiar diet, ticks evolved a sophisticated salivary potion that can disarm their host's hemostasis, inflammation, and immune reactions. Previous transcriptome analysis of tick salivary proteins has revealed many new protein families indicative of fast evolution, possibly due to host immune pressure. The ... | 2011 | 21851864 |
| evolution, expansion and expression of the kunitz/bpti gene family associated with long-term blood feeding in ixodes scapularis. | abstract: background: recent studies of the tick saliva transcriptome have revealed the profound role of salivary proteins in blood feeding. kunitz/bpti proteins are abundant in the salivary glands of ticks and perform multiple functions in blood feeding, such as inhibiting blood coagulation, regulating host blood supply and disrupting host angiogenesis. however, kunitz/bpti proteins in soft and hard ticks have different functions and molecular mechanisms. how these differences emerged and whet ... | 2012 | 22244187 |
| larval keys to the genera of ixodidae (acari) and species of ixodes (latreille) ticks established in california. | in california, hard (ixodidae) ticks transmit at least 8 zoonotic disease agents (1 virus, 6 bacteria, 1 protozoan) to humans or other animals. the correct taxonomic identification of all 3 parasitic stages (larvae, nymphs, adults) of ticks is integral to understanding host-tick associations and disease dynamics, but immature ticks, especially the larvae, can be difficult to identify. here, we present larval keys to the 4 genera of ixodidae (dermacentorkoch, 1844; haemaphysaliskoch, 1844; ixodes ... | 2008 | 20027236 |
| analysis of babesia bovis infection-induced gene expression changes in larvae from the cattle tick, rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus. | cattle babesiosis is a tick-borne disease of cattle that has severe economic impact on cattle producers throughout the world's tropical and subtropical countries. the most severe form of the disease is caused by the apicomplexan, babesia bovis, and transmitted to cattle through the bite of infected cattle ticks of the genus rhipicephalus, with the most prevalent species being rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus. we studied the reaction of the r. microplus larval transcriptome in response to infe ... | 2012 | 22871314 |
| tick salivary secretion as a source of antihemostatics. | ticks are mostly obligatory blood feeding ectoparasites that have an impact on human and animal health. in addition to direct damage due to feeding, some tick species serve as the vectors for the causative agents of several diseases, such as the spirochetes of the genus borrelia causing lyme disease, the virus of tick-borne encephalitis, various rickettsial pathogens or even protozoan parasites like babesia spp. hard ticks are unique among bloodfeeders because of their prolonged feeding period t ... | 2012 | 22564820 |
| the ovarian transcriptome of the cattle tick, rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus, feeding upon a bovine host infected with babesia bovis. | cattle babesiosis is a tick-borne disease of cattle with the most severe form of the disease caused by the apicomplexan, babesia bovis. babesiosis is transmitted to cattle through the bite of infected cattle ticks of the genus rhipicephalus. the most prevalent species is rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus, which is distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical countries of the world. the transmission of b. bovis is transovarian and a previous study of the r. microplus ovarian proteome ide ... | 2013 | 24330595 |
| a 24-48 h fed amblyomma americanum tick saliva immuno-proteome. | multiple tick saliva proteins, the majority of which are unknown, confer tick resistance in repeatedly infested animals. the objective of this study was to identify the 24-48 h fed amblyomma americanum tick saliva immuno-proteome. the 24-48 h tick-feeding phase is critical to tick parasitism as it precedes important events in tick biology, blood meal feeding and disease agent transmission. fed male, 24 and 96 h fed female phage display cdna expression libraries were biopanned using rabbit antibo ... | 2014 | 24962723 |
| identification of 24h ixodes scapularis immunogenic tick saliva proteins. | ixodes scapularis is arguably the most medically important tick species in the united states. this tick transmits 5 of the 14 human tick-borne disease (tbd) agents in the usa: borrelia burgdorferi, anaplasma phagocytophilum, b. miyamotoi, babesia microti, and powassan virus disease. except for the powassan virus disease, i. scapularis-vectored tbd agents require more than 24h post attachment to be transmitted. this study describes identification of 24h immunogenic i. scapularis tick saliva prote ... | 2015 | 25825233 |
| substrate prediction of ixodes ricinus salivary lipocalins differentially expressed during borrelia afzelii infection. | evolution has provided ticks with an arsenal of bioactive saliva molecules that counteract host defense mechanisms. this salivary pharmacopoeia enables blood-feeding while enabling pathogen transmission. high-throughput sequencing of tick salivary glands has thus become a major focus, revealing large expansion within protein encoding gene families. among these are lipocalins, ubiquitous barrel-shaped proteins that sequester small, typically hydrophobic molecules. this study was initiated by mini ... | 2016 | 27584086 |
| the salivary secretome of the biting midge, culicoides sonorensis. | culicoides biting midges (diptera: ceratopogonidae) are hematophagous insects with over 1400 species distributed throughout the world. many of these species are of particular agricultural importance as primary vectors of bluetongue and schmallenberg viruses, yet little is known about culicoides genomics and proteomics. detailed studies of members from other blood-feeding dipteran families, including those of mosquito (culicidae) and black fly (simuliidae), have shown that protein components with ... | 2014 | 24949243 |
| antarctic krill 454 pyrosequencing reveals chaperone and stress transcriptome. | the antarctic krill euphausia superba is a keystone species in the antarctic food chain. not only is it a significant grazer of phytoplankton, but it is also a major food item for charismatic megafauna such as whales and seals and an important southern ocean fisheries crop. ecological data suggest that this species is being affected by climate change and this will have considerable consequences for the balance of the southern ocean ecosystem. hence, understanding how this organism functions is a ... | 2011 | 21253607 |
| the salivary gland transcriptome of the neotropical malaria vector anopheles darlingi reveals accelerated evolution of genes relevant to hematophagy. | mosquito saliva, consisting of a mixture of dozens of proteins affecting vertebrate hemostasis and having sugar digestive and antimicrobial properties, helps both blood and sugar meal feeding. culicine and anopheline mosquitoes diverged ~150 mya, and within the anophelines, the new world species diverged from those of the old world ~95 mya. while the sialotranscriptome (from the greek sialo, saliva) of several species of the cellia subgenus of anopheles has been described thoroughly, no detailed ... | 2009 | 19178717 |
| platelet aggregation inhibitors from hematophagous animals. | salivary glands from blood-sucking animals (e.g., mosquitoes, bugs, sand flies, fleas, ticks, leeches, hookworms, bats) are a rich source of bioactive molecules that counteract hemostasis in a redundant and synergistic manner. this review discusses recent progress in the identification of salivary inhibitors of platelet aggregation, their molecular characterization, and detailed mechanism of action. diversity of inhibitors is remarkable, with distinct families of proteins characterized as apyras ... | 2009 | 20035779 |
| anopheles salivary gland proteomes from major malaria vectors. | antibody responses against anopheles salivary proteins can indicate individual exposure to bites of malaria vectors. the extent to which these salivary proteins are species-specific is not entirely resolved. thus, a better knowledge of the diversity among salivary protein repertoires from various malaria vector species is necessary to select relevant genus-, subgenus- and/or species-specific salivary antigens. such antigens could be used for quantitative (mosquito density) and qualitative (mosqu ... | 2012 | 23148599 |
| tick-box for 3'-end formation of mitochondrial transcripts in ixodida, basal chelicerates and drosophila. | according to the trna punctuation model, the mitochondrial genome (mtdna) of mammals and arthropods is transcribed as large polycistronic precursors that are maturated by endonucleolytic cleavage at trna borders and rna polyadenylation. starting from the newly sequenced mtdna of ixodes ricinus and using a combination of mitogenomics and transcriptional analyses, we found that in all currently-sequenced tick lineages (prostriata, metastriata and argasidae) the 3'-end of the polyadenylated nad1 an ... | 2012 | 23077630 |
| the sialotranscriptome of antricola delacruzi female ticks is compatible with non-hematophagous behavior and an alternative source of food. | the hosts for antricola delacruzi ticks are insectivorous, cave-dwelling bats on which only larvae are found. the mouthparts of nymphal and adult a. delacruzi are compatible with scavenging feeding because the hypostome is small and toothless. how a single blood meal of a larva provides energy for several molts as well as for oviposition by females is not known. adults of a. delacruzi possibly feed upon an unknown food source in bat guano, a substrate on which nymphal and adult stages are always ... | 2012 | 22306723 |
| understanding the evolutionary structural variability and target specificity of tick salivary kunitz peptides using next generation transcriptome data. | ticks are blood-sucking arthropods and a primary function of tick salivary proteins is to counteract the host's immune response. tick salivary kunitz-domain proteins perform multiple functions within the feeding lesion and have been classified as venoms; thereby, constituting them as one of the important elements in the arms race with the host. the two main mechanisms advocated to explain the functional heterogeneity of tick salivary kunitz-domain proteins are gene sharing and gene duplication. ... | 2014 | 24397261 |
| de novo ixodes ricinus salivary gland transcriptome analysis using two next-generation sequencing methodologies. | tick salivary gland (sg) proteins possess powerful pharmacologic properties that facilitate tick feeding and pathogen transmission. for the first time, sg transcriptomes of ixodes ricinus, an important disease vector for humans and animals, were analyzed using next-generation sequencing. sgs were collected from different tick life stages fed on various animal species, including cofeeding of nymphs and adults on the same host. four cdna samples were sequenced, discriminating tick sg transcriptome ... | 2013 | 23964076 |
| disintegrins from hematophagous sources. | bloodsucking arthropods are a rich source of salivary molecules (sialogenins) which inhibit platelet aggregation, neutrophil function and angiogenesis. here we review the literature on salivary disintegrins and their targets. disintegrins were first discovered in snake venoms, and were instrumental in our understanding of integrin function and also for the development of anti-thrombotic drugs. in hematophagous animals, most disintegrins described so far have been discovered in the salivary gland ... | 2012 | 22778902 |
| factorial microarray analysis of zebra mussel (dreissena polymorpha: dreissenidae, bivalvia) adhesion. | the zebra mussel (dreissena polymorpha) has been well known for its expertise in attaching to substances under the water. studies in past decades on this underwater adhesion focused on the adhesive protein isolated from the byssogenesis apparatus of the zebra mussel. however, the mechanism of the initiation, maintenance, and determination of the attachment process remains largely unknown. | 2010 | 20509938 |
| retrozymes are a unique family of non-autonomous retrotransposons with hammerhead ribozymes that propagate in plants through circular rnas. | catalytic rnas, or ribozymes, are regarded as fossils of a prebiotic rna world that have remained in the genomes of modern organisms. the simplest ribozymes are the small self-cleaving rnas, like the hammerhead ribozyme, which have been historically considered biological oddities restricted to some rna pathogens. recent data, however, indicate that small self-cleaving ribozymes are widespread in genomes, although their functions are still unknown. | 2016 | 27339130 |
| structural similarities of human and mammalian lipocalins, and their function in innate immunity and allergy. | owners and their domestic animals via skin shedding and secretions, mutually exchange microbiomes, potential pathogens and innate immune molecules. among the latter especially lipocalins are multifaceted: they may have an immunomodulatory function and, furthermore, they represent one of the most important animal allergen families. the amino acid identities, as well as their structures by superposition modeling were compared among human lipocalins, hlcn1 and hlcn2, and most important animal lipoc ... | 2015 | 26497994 |
| molecular characterization of a defensin gene from a hard tick, dermacentor silvarum. | ticks are distributed worldwide and considered as vectors of many human diseases. tick defensins, a family of antimicrobial peptides, form the first line of defense against pathogens. | 2015 | 25588982 |
| identification of defensin-encoding genes of picea glauca: characterization of pgd5, a conserved spruce defensin with strong antifungal activity. | plant defensins represent a major innate immune protein superfamily that displays strong inhibitory effects on filamentous fungi. the total number of plant defensins in a conifer species is unknown since there are no sequenced conifer genomes published, however the genomes of several angiosperm species provide an insight on the diversity of plant defensins. here we report the identification of five new defensin-encoding genes from the picea glauca genome and the characterization of two of their ... | 2012 | 23035776 |
| r2 dynamics in triops cancriformis (bosc, 1801) (crustacea, branchiopoda, notostraca): turnover rate and 28s concerted evolution. | the r2 retrotransposon is here characterized in bisexual populations of the european crustacean triops cancriformis. the isolated element matches well with the general aspects of the r2 family and it is highly differentiated from that of the congeneric north american triops longicaudatus. the analysis of 5' truncations indicates that r2 dynamics in t. cancriformis populations show a high turnover rate as observed in drosophila simulans. for the first time in the literature, though, individuals h ... | 2010 | 20628416 |
| structure and mechanism in salivary proteins from blood-feeding arthropods. | the saliva of blood-feeding arthropods contains rich mixtures of ligand binding proteins targeted at inhibiting hemostasis and inflammation in the host. since blood feeding has evolved many times, different taxonomic groups utilize completely different families of proteins to perform similar tasks. structural studies performed on a number of these proteins have revealed biologically novel and sophisticated mechanisms used to perform their functions. here, the results of these structural and mech ... | 2009 | 19925819 |