| [kisemayo virus, a representative of the bhanja antigenic group]. | previously unknown kisemayo virus first isolated in 1974 from rhipicephalus pulchellus ticks collected in somali shows antigenic relationship with bhanja virus in hi tests, however, is readily differentiated from the latter in this test. no cross relations between these agents are demonstrable in cft, agar gel diffusion and precipitation test or neutralization test. these results suggest formation of a new antigenic group including bhanja and kisemayo viruses among arboviruses. | 1979 | 524862 |
| camel production in kenya and its constraints. ii. tick infestation. | the tick loads and tick species infesting an experimental herd, a rendille pastoralists' herd and two ranch herds of camels, in four different areas of kenya are described. the tick species most commonly observed were hyalomma rufipes, hyalomma dromedarii and rhipicephalus pulchellus. | 1983 | 6623649 |
| contribution to the knowledge of ixodidae ticks of wild mammals of somalia. | this study was based on material collected in 1983-1984 from wild mammals of the middle scebeli. low scebeli and bay regions of somalia. a total of 292 specimens (156 males, 65 females, 70 nymphase, 1 larva) from 13 host species were examined. the following species of ixodidae were identified. amblyomma variegatum (fabricius, 1794); haemaphysalis calcarata neumann, 1902; haemaphysalis spinulosa neumann, 1906; rhipicephalus armatus pocock, 1900; rhipicephalus pravus donitz, 1910; rhipicephalus pu ... | 1996 | 9257347 |
| tick infestation of borana cattle in the borana province of ethiopia. | a study was conducted to identify and determine burdens of ticks infesting borana cattle in the borana province of ethiopia. rhipicephalus pulchellus, rhipicephalus pravus, rhipicephalus muhsamae, rhipicephalus praetextatus, rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi, amblyomma gemma, amblyomma variegatum, amblyomma cohaerens, amblyomma lepidum, hyalomma truncatum, hyalomma marginatum rufipes and boophilus decoloratus were identified on the cattle. their burdens ranged from 658-1,554 with a mean of 1,205 tic ... | 2001 | 11403429 |
| the distribution of ixodid ticks (acari: ixodidae) in central ethiopia. | ixodid ticks were collected from domestic animals, mainly cattle, in 11 administrative zones covering 84 districts in central ethiopia over a period of 2 years (july 1996 to june 1998). nineteen tick species were identified. four of these belonged to the genus amblyomma, one to boophilus, two to haemaphysalis, three to hyalomma and nine to rhipicephalus. amblyomma variegatum and rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi were present in all 11 administrative zones and, with the exception of afar, boophilus d ... | 2001 | 12026058 |
| evidence that rhipicephalus pulchellus (gerstaeker 1873) may be a vector of some piroplasms. | | 1965 | 14286147 |
| rhipicephalus pulchellus gerstäcker 1873: a description of the larva and nymph with notes on the adults and on its biology. | | 1955 | 14370834 |
| in vitro investigation of the toxic effects of extracts of allium sativum bulbs on adults of hyalomma marginatum rufipes and rhipicephalus pulchellus. | the toxic effects of the extracts of allium sativum (garlic) were evaluated against adults of hyalomma marginatum rufipes and rhipicephalus pulchellus using three types (types a, b and c) of contact toxicity bioassays. a. sativum bulbs were extracted with acetone, ethanol and dichloromethane (dcm) solvents. among these three solvents, it is the dcm extract of a. sativum that appears to have anti-tick activity. in the type a contact toxicity bioassay, dcm extracts of a. sativum demonstrated a hig ... | 2005 | 16108529 |
| tickborne arbovirus surveillance in market livestock, nairobi, kenya. | to identify tickborne viruses circulating in kenya and the surrounding region, we conducted surveillance at abattoirs in nairobi, kenya. species of ticks collected included rhipicephalus pulchellus (56%), amblyomma gemma (14%), r. appendiculatus (8%), a. variegatum (6%), and others. a total of 56 virus isolates were obtained, 26 from a. gemma, 17 from r. pulchellus, 6 from a. variegatum, and 7 from other species. virus isolates included dugbe virus (dugv), an unknown virus related to dugv, thogo ... | 2006 | 16836823 |
| ticks (acari: ixodidae) associated with wildlife and vegetation of haller park along the kenyan coastline. | this artcile describes the results obtained from a tick survey conducted in haller park along the kenyan coastline. the survey aimed at evaluating tick-host associations, assessing tick population density, and providing baseline information for planning future tick control and management in the park. ticks (2,968) were collected by handpicking from eight species of wildlife and by dragging in 14 selected sites within the park. a considerable proportion of ticks were also collected from leaves, s ... | 2006 | 17017210 |
| the prevalence of serum antibodies to ehrlichia ruminantium infection in ranch cattle in tanzania: a cross-sectional study. | serum samples collected in a cross-sectional survey of grazing cattle on manyara ranch, monduli district, tanzania, were tested by indirect major antigenic protein 1 fragment b (map 1-b) elisa to determine the seroprevalence of ehrlichia ruminantium and to assess ranch-level risk factors for heartwater. heartwater-exposed cattle were widespread on the ranch and overall seroprevalence was 50.3% (95% ci, 44.9-55.6), enough to indicate an endemically unstable situation. multivariate logistic regres ... | 2008 | 18846851 |
| survey of tick infestation in small ruminants of miesso district, west harergie, oromia region, ethiopia. | a survey was conducted to identify tick species and determine the prevalence of tick infestation in small ruminants of miesso district, west harergie zone. collection and identification of the ticks were undertaken from november 2007 to april 2008. all visible individual adult ticks were collected from the body of 328 goats and 40 sheep. the prevalence of tick infestation in goats and sheep was found to be 89.9% and 87.5%, respectively. in this study, ten species of ticks which grouped under fou ... | 2009 | 19082757 |
| kupe virus, a new virus in the family bunyaviridae, genus nairovirus, kenya. | we have previously described isolation and preliminary identification of a virus related to dugbe virus (dugv), family bunyaviridae, genus nairovirus. six isolates of the virus were obtained from pools of amblyomma gemma and rhipicephalus pulchellus ticks collected from hides of cattle in nairobi, kenya, in october 1999. we report results of further characterization of this virus, including growth kinetics in cell culture and full-length genome sequencing and genetic characterization, which show ... | 2009 | 19193256 |
| extracts of calpurnia aurea leaves from southern ethiopia attract and immobilise or kill ticks. | calpurnia aurea extracts are used in southern ethiopia to protect stock against ticks. acetone, hexane and water leaf extracts of c. aurea collected in southern ethiopia were tested for repellent/attractant and acaricidal properties on unfed adult rhipicephalus pulchellus ticks. in contrast to many other plant species evaluated, c. aurea extracts did not have repellent properties, but rather had a slight attractant capacity. with 20% and 10% acetone extracts, all ticks were either killed or thei ... | 2010 | 20004522 |
| optimizing modes of inoculation of rhipicephalus ticks (acari: ixodidae) with a mitosporic entomopathogenic fungus in the laboratory. | the process of strain selection is an important step in the development of insect pathogens for biological control. bioassays were conducted in the laboratory to evaluate the efficacy of different methods of inoculation using rhipicephalus pulchellus gerstäcker (acari: ixodidae) as a model. initially, an oil-based formulation of metarhizium anisopliae (metsch.) sorok. (ascomycota: hypocreales) titred at 10(9) conidia ml(-1) was applied to r. pulchellus adults using a burgerjon spray tower or a m ... | 2010 | 20082120 |
| attraction response of adult rhipicephalus appendiculatus and rhipicephalus pulchellus (acari: ixodidae) ticks to extracts from calpurnia aurea (fabaceae). | experiments were carried out to investigate the response of two tick species rhipicephalus pulchellus gerstaker, 1873 and rhipicephalus appendiculatus neumann, 1901 to three different extracts (acetone, aqueous and oil) of the dried leaves of calpurnia aurea (aiton) benth in both an inverted glass tube and a dual choice t-olfactometer. the oil extract at 50 and 100mg/ml attracted 46.7% and 65.9% of r. appendiculatus, respectively, in the inverted glass tube assay, which was comparable to 47.8% o ... | 2010 | 20828936 |
| prevalence and species composition of ixodid ticks infesting horses in three agroecologies in central oromia, ethiopia. | a cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the species composition and prevalence of ixodid ticks infesting horses in three agroecological zones in central ethiopia. for this purpose, a total of 1,168 horses were examined for tick infestation. an overall prevalence of 39.04% of tick infestation on horses was recorded. a total of 917 adult ticks were collected from infested horses. amblyomma, boophilus, rhipicephalus, and hyalomma genera with the respective prevalence of 3.2%, 1.8%, 29.2% ... | 2011 | 21656133 |
| crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever virus in hyalommid ticks, northeastern kenya. | as part of ongoing arbovirus surveillance, we screened ticks obtained from livestock in northeastern kenya in 2008 to assess the risk for human exposure to tick-borne viruses. of 1,144 pools of 8,600 hyalomma spp. ticks screened for congo-crimean hemorrhagic fever virus by reverse transcription pcr, 23 pools were infected, demonstrating a potential for human exposure. | 2011 | 21801635 |
| ticks (acari: ixodidae) infesting cattle and african buffaloes in the tsavo conservation area, kenya. | several ixodid tick species are shared between domestic cattle and african buffaloes (syncerus caffer). so too, are a number of tick-borne diseases. the aim of the study was to compare the species composition of ticks that infest cattle and buffaloes utilising the same habitat within the tsavo conservation area, kenya. to this end, 25 cattle and 62 buffaloes were each opportunistically sampled for ticks on a single occasion in february 2010. eight species, namely amblyomma gemma, amblyomma lepid ... | 2012 | 23327329 |
| knockdown of selenocysteine-specific elongation factor in amblyomma maculatum alters the pathogen burden of rickettsia parkeri with epigenetic control by the sin3 histone deacetylase corepressor complex. | selenocysteine is the 21st naturally-occurring amino acid. selenoproteins have diverse functions and many remain uncharacterized, but they are typically associated with antioxidant activity. the incorporation of selenocysteine into the nascent polypeptide chain recodes the tga stop codon and this process depends upon a number of essential factors including the selenocysteine elongation factor (sef). the transcriptional expression of sef did not change significantly in tick midguts throughout the ... | 2013 | 24282621 |
| comprehensive molecular detection of tick-borne phleboviruses leads to the retrospective identification of taxonomically unassigned bunyaviruses and the discovery of a novel member of the genus phlebovirus. | until the recent emergence of two human-pathogenic tick-borne phleboviruses (tbpvs) (severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus [sftsv] and heartland virus), tbpvs have been neglected as causative agents of human disease. in particular, no studies have addressed the global distribution of tbpvs, and consequently, our understanding of the mechanism(s) underlying their evolution and emergence remains poor. in order to provide a useful tool for the ecological and epidemiological study of tbp ... | 2014 | 25339769 |
| comparative bioinformatics, temporal and spatial expression analyses of ixodes scapularis organic anion transporting polypeptides. | organic anion-transporting polypeptides (oatps) are an integral part of the detoxification mechanism in vertebrates and invertebrates. these cell surface proteins are involved in mediating the sodium-independent uptake and/or distribution of a broad array of organic amphipathic compounds and xenobiotic drugs. this study describes bioinformatics and biological characterization of 9 oatp sequences in the ixodes scapularis genome. these sequences have been annotated on the basis of 12 transmembrane ... | 2014 | 24582512 |
| modulation of host immunity by tick saliva. | next generation sequencing and proteomics have helped to comprehensively characterize gene expression in tick salivary glands at both the transcriptome and the proteome level. functional data are, however, lacking. given that tick salivary secretions are critical to the success of the tick transmission lifecycle and, as a consequence, for host colonization by the pathogens they spread, we thoroughly review here the literature on the known interactions between tick saliva (or tick salivary gland ... | 2015 | 26189360 |
| conserved amblyomma americanum tick serpin19, an inhibitor of blood clotting factors xa and xia, trypsin and plasmin, has anti-haemostatic functions. | tick saliva serine protease inhibitors (serpins) facilitate tick blood meal feeding through inhibition of protease mediators of host defense pathways. we previously identified a highly conserved amblyomma americanum serpin 19 that is characterised by its reactive center loop being 100% conserved in ixodid ticks. in this study, biochemical characterisation reveals that the ubiquitously transcribed a. americanum serpin 19 is an anti-coagulant protein, inhibiting the activity of five of the eight s ... | 2015 | 25957161 |
| sexual differences in the sialomes of the zebra tick, rhipicephalus pulchellus. | ticks rely exclusively on vertebrate blood for their survival. during feeding ticks inject into their hosts a sophisticated salivary potion that overcomes host hemostasis and adverse inflammatory responses. these mediators may also enhance pathogen transmission. knowledge of the tick salivary protein repertoire may lead to vaccine targets to disrupt feeding and/or parasite transmission as well as to the discovery of novel pharmacological agents. male saliva may also assist reproduction because m ... | 2015 | 25576852 |
| dual silencing of long and short amblyomma americanum acidic chitinase forms weakens the tick cement cone stability. | this study demonstrates that amblyomma americanum (aam) constitutively and ubiquitously expresses the long (l) and short (s) putative acidic chitinases (ach) that are distinguished by a 210 base pair (bp) deletion in aamach-s. full-length aamach-l and aamach-s cdna are 1959 and 1718 bp long, containing 1332 and 1104 bp open reading frames that code for 443 and 367 amino acid residues proteins with the former predicted to be extracellular and the latter intracellular. both aamach-l and aamach-s m ... | 2014 | 25189365 |
| a systems biology approach to the characterization of stress response in dermacentor reticulatus tick unfed larvae. | dermacentor reticulatus (fabricius, 1794) is distributed in europe and asia where it infests and transmits disease-causing pathogens to humans, pets and other domestic and wild animals. however, despite its role as a vector of emerging or re-emerging diseases, very little information is available on the genome, transcriptome and proteome of d. reticulatus. tick larvae are the first developmental stage to infest hosts, acquire infection and transmit pathogens that are transovarially transmitted a ... | 2014 | 24586875 |
| proteomic analysis of interaction between a plant virus and its vector insect reveals new functions of hemipteran cuticular protein. | numerous viruses can be transmitted by their corresponding vector insects; however, the molecular mechanisms enabling virus transmission by vector insects have been poorly understood, especially the identity of vector components interacting with the virus. here, we used the yeast two-hybrid system to study proteomic interactions of a plant virus (rice stripe virus, rsv, genus tenuivirus) with its vector insect, small brown planthopper (laodelphax striatellus). sixty-six proteins of l. striatellu ... | 2015 | 26091699 |
| isolation of tick and mosquito-borne arboviruses from ticks sampled from livestock and wild animal hosts in ijara district, kenya. | tick-borne viruses infect humans through the bite of infected ticks during opportunistic feeding or through crushing of ticks by hand and, in some instances, through contact with infected viremic animals. the ijara district, an arid to semiarid region in northern kenya, is home to a pastoralist community for whom livestock keeping is a way of life. part of the ijara district lies within the boundaries of a kenya wildlife service-protected conservation area. arbovirus activity among mosquitoes, a ... | 2013 | 23805790 |
| 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 |
| genome sequence analysis of in vitro and in vivo phenotypes of bunyamwera and ngari virus isolates from northern kenya. | biological phenotypes of tri-segmented arboviruses display characteristics that map to mutation/s in the s, m or l segments of the genome. plaque variants have been characterized for other viruses displaying varied phenotypes including attenuation in growth and/or pathogenesis. in order to characterize variants of bunyamwera and ngari viruses, we isolated individual plaque size variants; small plaque (sp) and large plaque (lp) and determined in vitro growth properties and in vivo pathogenesis in ... | 2014 | 25153316 |
| whole genome phylogenetic investigation of a west nile virus strain isolated from a tick sampled from livestock in north eastern kenya. | west nile virus (wnv) has a wide geographical distribution and has been associated to cause neurological disease in humans and horses. mosquitoes are the traditional vectors for wnv; however, the virus has also been isolated from tick species in north africa and europe which could be a means of introduction and spread of the virus over long distances through migratory birds. although wnv has been isolated in mosquitoes in kenya, paucity of genetic and pathogenicity data exists. we previously rep ... | 2014 | 25430727 |
| detection of west nile virus in wild birds in tana river and garissa counties, kenya. | west nile fever virus is a zoonotic arboviral infection maintained in a sylvatic cycle involving mosquito vectors and birds. it is one the arboviruses whose geographical range is expanding because of climate and land use changes that enhance the densities of mosquitoes and promote mosquito-bird-human interactions. we carried out a survey to determine the reservoirs of wnv among wild birds in tana river and garissa counties, kenya. | 2016 | 27881079 |
| transcriptome of the female synganglion of the black-legged tick ixodes scapularis (acari: ixodidae) with comparison between illumina and 454 systems. | illumina and 454 pyrosequencing were used to characterize genes from the synganglion of female ixodes scapularis. go term searching success for biological processes was similar for samples sequenced by both methods. however, for molecular processes, it was more successful for the illumina samples than for 454 samples. functional assignments of transcripts predicting neuropeptides, neuropeptide receptors, neurotransmitter receptors and other genes of interest was done, supported by strong e-value ... | 2014 | 25075967 |
| tick-borne pathogens of zoonotic and veterinary importance in nigerian cattle. | ticks and tick-borne diseases undermine cattle fitness and productivity in the whole of sub-saharan africa, including nigeria. in this west african country, cattle are challenged by numerous tick species, especially during the wet season. consequently, several tbds are known to be endemic in nigerian cattle, including anaplasmosis, babesiosis, cowdriosis and theilerioris (by theileria mutans and theileria velifera). to date, all investigations on cattle tbds in nigeria have been based on cytolog ... | 2016 | 27090756 |
| infestation and identification of ixodid tick in cattle: the case of arbegona district, southern ethiopia. | the study was conducted from october 2014 to june 2015 to estimate tick prevalence and identify major tick genera infesting cattle and the associated risk factors in arbegona district, southern ethiopia. a total of 2024 adult ticks were collected from main body parts of animals and eight species of ticks which belong to three genera were identified. questionnaire survey was employed concerning the general case on the tick infestation problems on the cattle. from 384 cattle examined, 291 (75.7%) ... | 2016 | 28105466 |
| matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry for comprehensive indexing of east african ixodid tick species. | the tick population of africa includes several important genera belonging to the family ixodidae. many of these ticks are vectors of protozoan and rickettsial pathogens including theileria parva that causes east coast fever, a debilitating cattle disease endemic to eastern, central and southern africa. effective surveillance of tick-borne pathogens depends on accurate identification and mapping of their tick vectors. a simple and reproducible technique for rapid and reliable differentiation of l ... | 2016 | 26979606 |
| specific histamine binding activity of a new lipocalin from hyalomma asiaticum (ixodidae) and therapeutic effects on allergic asthma in mice. | lipocalin proteins are secreted by tick salivary glands as an important strategy to interfere with the immune response of hosts. a large number of lipocalins are secreted, but the functions of most of these proteins are unclear. here, we report a new lipocalin protein with particular histamine binding capacity, which was isolated from the salivary glands of the tick hyalomma asiaticum. | 2016 | 27639693 |
| tick-borne lymphadenopathy-like condition in an african woman in kenya. | a 30-year-old african woman in kenya succumbed to severe swollen regional lymph nodes, development of painful boils and ulcer formation and rashes at specific tick-biting sites together with an intermittent fever and headache following repeated tick bites of rhipicephalus pulchellus. she later developed nuchal lymphadenopathy-like condition and an eschar with edematous margins at bitten sites. a sustained high fever and fatigue then followed. she became well after treatment with antibiotics and ... | 0 | 24497868 |
| the venomous cocktail of the vampire snail colubraria reticulata (mollusca, gastropoda). | hematophagy arose independently multiple times during metazoan evolution, with several lineages of vampire animals particularly diversified in invertebrates. however, the biochemistry of hematophagy has been studied in a few species of direct medical interest and is still underdeveloped in most invertebrates, as in general is the study of venom toxins. in cone snails, leeches, arthropods and snakes, the strong target specificity of venom toxins uniquely aligns them to industrial and academic pur ... | 2015 | 26054852 |
| tissue- and time-dependent transcription in ixodes ricinus salivary glands and midguts when blood feeding on the vertebrate host. | ixodes ricinus is a tick that transmits the pathogens of lyme and several arboviral diseases. pathogens invade the tick midgut, disseminate through the hemolymph, and are transmitted to the vertebrate host via the salivary glands; subverting these processes could be used to interrupt pathogen transfer. here, we use massive de novo sequencing to characterize the transcriptional dynamics of the salivary and midgut tissues of nymphal and adult i. ricinus at various time points after attachment on t ... | 2015 | 25765539 |
| dramatic expansion of the black widow toxin arsenal uncovered by multi-tissue transcriptomics and venom proteomics. | animal venoms attract enormous interest given their potential for pharmacological discovery and understanding the evolution of natural chemistries. next-generation transcriptomics and proteomics provide unparalleled, but underexploited, capabilities for venom characterization. we combined multi-tissue rna-seq with mass spectrometry and bioinformatic analyses to determine venom gland specific transcripts and venom proteins from the western black widow spider (latrodectus hesperus) and investigate ... | 2014 | 24916504 |
| molecular characterization and functional significance of the vti family of snare proteins in tick salivary glands. | exocytosis involves membrane fusion between secretory vesicles and the plasma membrane. the soluble n-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment proteins (snaps) and their receptor proteins (snares) interact to fuse vesicles with the membrane and trigger the release of their sialosecretome out of the tick salivary gland cells. in this study, we examined the functional significance of the vti family of snare proteins of blood-feeding amblyomma maculatum and amblyomma americanum. vti1a and vti1b h ... | 2013 | 23499931 |
| occurrence and genotyping of coxiella burnetii in ixodid ticks in oromia, ethiopia. | this study was conducted from september 2011 to march 2014 to address the occurrence and genotypes of coxiella burnetii using molecular methods in ticks collected from domestic animals in ethiopia. ticks were tested for c. burnetii by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qpcr) targeting two different genes followed by multispacer sequence typing (mst). an overall prevalence of 6.4% (54/842) of c. burnetii was recorded. c. burnetii was detected in 28.6% (14/49) of amblyomma gemma, 25 ... | 2015 | 26392155 |
| metazseckb: the human and animal secretome and subcellular proteome knowledgebase. | the subcellular location of a protein is a key factor in determining the molecular function of the protein in an organism. metazseckb is a secretome and subcellular proteome knowledgebase specifically designed for metazoan, i.e. human and animals. the protein sequence data, consisting of over 4 million entries with 121 species having a complete proteome, were retrieved from uniprotkb. protein subcellular locations including secreted and 15 other subcellular locations were assigned based on eithe ... | 2015 | 26255309 |
| venom gland transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of the enigmatic scorpion superstitionia donensis (scorpiones: superstitioniidae), with insights on the evolution of its venom components. | venom gland transcriptomic and proteomic analyses have improved our knowledge on the diversity of the heterogeneous components present in scorpion venoms. however, most of these studies have focused on species from the family buthidae. to gain insights into the molecular diversity of the venom components of scorpions belonging to the family superstitioniidae, one of the neglected scorpion families, we performed a transcriptomic and proteomic analyses for the species superstitionia donensis. the ... | 2016 | 27941686 |
| isoflavones from calpurnia aurea subsp. aurea and their anticancer activity. | calpurnia aurea is an african medicinal plant used in many countries in africa to treat a range of medical conditions or disorders. extracts of the plant were shown to be active in antibacterial and antioxidant assays as well as against lice, ticks and maggots. the aim of the study was to isolate the phytochemical constituents from the plant and to test them in appropriate bioassays dependent on the compounds isolated in order to provide a rationale for the use of the plant in ethno-medicine or ... | 2014 | 25395701 |
| characterization of the bhanja serogroup viruses (bunyaviridae): a novel species of the genus phlebovirus and its relationship with other emerging tick-borne phleboviruses. | bhanja virus (bhav) and its antigenically close relatives forecariah virus (forv), kismayo virus (kisv), and palma virus (palv) are thought to be members of the family bunyaviridae, but they have not been assigned to a genus or species. despite their broad geographical distribution and reports that bhav causes sporadic cases of febrile illness and encephalitis in humans, the public health importance of the bhanja serogroup viruses remains unclear, due in part to the lack of sequence and biochemi ... | 2013 | 23325688 |
| ixodid tick infestation in cattle and wild animals in maswa and iringa, tanzania. | ticks and tick-borne diseases are important in human and livestock health worldwide. in november 2012, ixodid ticks were collected and identified morphologically from cattle and wild animals in the maswa district and iringa urban, tanzania. amblyomma gemma, a. lepidum, and a. variegatum were identified from maswa cattle, and a. variegatum was the predominant species. a. marmoreum, hyalomma impeltatum, and rhipicephalus pulchellus were identified from iringa cattle in addition to the above 3 ambl ... | 2014 | 25352709 |
| adaptive evolution in the toxicity of a spider's venom enzymes. | sphingomyelinase d is the main toxin present in the venom of loxosceles spiders. several isoforms present in these venoms can be structurally classified in two groups. class i sphingomyelinase d contains a single disulphide bridge and variable loop. class ii sphingomyelinase d presents an additional intrachain disulphide bridge that links a flexible loop with a catalytic loop. these classes exhibit differences in their toxic potential. in this paper we address the distribution of the structural ... | 2015 | 26690570 |
| mkk3 was involved in larval settlement of the barnacle amphibalanus amphitrite through activating the kinase activity of p38mapk. | the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38mapk) plays a key role in larval settlement of the barnacle amphibalanus amphitrite. to study the signaling pathway associated with p38mapk during larval settlement, we sought to identify the upstream kinase of p38mapk. three mkks (mkk3, mkk4 and mkk7) and three mapks (p38mapk, erk and jnk) in a. amphitrite were cloned and recombinantly expressed in e. coli. through kinase assays, we found that mkk3, but not mkk4 or mkk7, phosphorylated p38mapk. furth ... | 2013 | 23922727 |
| role of grooming in reducing tick load in wild baboons (papio cynocephalus). | nonhuman primate species spend a conspicuous amount of time grooming during social interactions, a behavior that probably serves both social and health-related functions. while the social implications of grooming have been relatively well studied, less attention has been paid to the health benefits, especially the removal of ectoparasites, which may act as vectors in disease transmission. in this study, we examined the relationship between grooming behavior, tick load (number of ticks), and haem ... | 0 | 24659824 |
| de novo transcriptome analysis of portunus trituberculatus ovary and testis by rna-seq: identification of genes involved in gonadal development. | the swimming crab portunus trituberculatus is a commercially important crab species in east asia countries. gonadal development is a physiological process of great significance to the reproduction as well as commercial seed production for p. trituberculatus. however, little is currently known about the molecular mechanisms governing the developmental processes of gonads in this species. to open avenues of molecular research on p. trituberculatus gonadal development, illumina paired-end sequencin ... | 2015 | 26042806 |
| potential role of glutathione in evolution of thiol-based redox signaling sites in proteins. | cysteine is susceptible to a variety of modifications by reactive oxygen and nitrogen oxide species, including glutathionylation; and when two cysteines are involved, disulfide formation. glutathione-cysteine adducts may be removed from proteins by glutaredoxin, whereas disulfides may be reduced by thioredoxin. glutaredoxin is homologous to the disulfide-reducing thioredoxin and shares similar binding modes of the protein substrate. the evolution of these systems is not well characterized. when ... | 2015 | 25805991 |
| a juvenile hormone transcription factor bmdimm-fibroin h chain pathway is involved in the synthesis of silk protein in silkworm, bombyx mori. | the genes responsible for silk biosynthesis are switched on and off at particular times in the silk glands of bombyx mori. this switch appears to be under the control of endogenous and exogenous hormones. however, the molecular mechanisms by which silk protein synthesis is regulated by the juvenile hormone (jh) are largely unknown. here, we report a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, bmdimm, its silk gland-specific expression, and its direct involvement in the regulation of fibroin h-c ... | 2014 | 25371208 |
| prediction of the protein components of a putative calanus finmarchicus (crustacea, copepoda) circadian signaling system using a de novo assembled transcriptome. | diel vertical migration and seasonal diapause are critical life history events for the copepod calanus finmarchicus. while much is known about these behaviors phenomenologically, little is known about their molecular underpinnings. recent studies in insects suggest that some circadian genes/proteins also contribute to the establishment of seasonal diapause. thus, it is possible that in calanus these distinct timing regimes share some genetic components. to begin to address this possibility, we u ... | 2013 | 23727418 |
| current themes and recent advances in modelling species occurrences. | recent years have seen a huge expansion in the range of methods and approaches that are being used to predict species occurrences. this expansion has been accompanied by many improvements in statistical methods, including more accurate ways of comparing models, better null models, methods to cope with autocorrelation, and greater awareness of the importance of scale and prevalence. however, the field still suffers from problems with incorporating temporal variation, overfitted models and poor ou ... | 2009 | 20948597 |
| prevalence of theileria equi and babesia caballi as well as the identification of associated ticks in sympatric grevy's zebras (equus grevyi) and donkeys (equus africanus asinus) in northern kenya. | the role of equine piroplasmosis as a factor in the population decline of the grevy's zebra is not known. we determined the prevalence of babesia caballi and theileria equi in cograzing grevy's zebras (equus grevyi) and donkeys (equus africanus asinus) in northern kenya and identified the associated tick vectors. blood samples were taken from 71 donkeys and 16 grevy's zebras from march to may 2011. a nested pcr reaction using 18s ribosomal (r)rna primers on 87 blood spots showed 72% (51/71; 95% ... | 2015 | 25380362 |
| ticks and tick-borne viruses from livestock hosts in arid and semiarid regions of the eastern and northeastern parts of kenya. | biodiversity and relative abundance of ticks and associated arboviruses in garissa (northeastern) and isiolo (eastern) provinces of kenya were evaluated. ticks were collected from livestock, identified to species, pooled, and processed for virus isolation. in garissa, rhipicephalus pulchellus gerstacker (57.8%) and hyalomma truncatum koch (27.8%) were the most abundant species sampled, whereas r. pulchellus (80.4%) and amblyomma gemma donitz (9.6%) were the most abundant in isiolo. forty-four vi ... | 2014 | 24605478 |
| ticks and tick-borne pathogens in livestock from nomadic herds in the somali region, ethiopia. | between may 2006 and january 2007, blood samples and ticks were randomly collected from 220 nomadic animals from filtu and dollo odo districts, libaan zone, in the somali region of ethiopia. overall, 81.5% cattle, 98.2% camels, 53.4% goats and 61.1% sheep were infested by ixodid ticks. collected ticks (n = 1,036) were identified as rhipicephalus pulchellus (40.1%), r. pravus (25.8%), amblyomma gemma (9.4%), hyalomma rufipes (13.3%), h. truncatum (2.8%), h. impeltatum (1.2%) and h. dromedarii (0. ... | 2012 | 22349943 |
| tick repellents and acaricides of botanical origin: a green roadmap to control tick-borne diseases? | arthropods are dangerous vectors of agents of deadly diseases, which may hit as epidemics or pandemics in the increasing world population of humans and animals. among them, ticks transmit more pathogen species than any other group of blood-feeding arthropods worldwide. thus, the effective and eco-friendly control of tick vectors in a constantly changing environment is a crucial challenge. a number of novel routes have been attempted to prevent and control tick-borne diseases, including the devel ... | 2016 | 27146901 |
| altitudinal and seasonal differences of tick communities in dogs from pastoralist tribes of northern kenya. | studies regarding the distribution and ecology of ticks in dogs from eastern africa are scarce. our research was based on a long-term screening of ticks parasitising the domestic dogs living with indigenous people around lake turkana, mt. kulal and mt. nyiru areas, northern kenya. a total of 9977 ticks were collected from 1464 dogs of all ages and both sexes. identification was performed using morphological keys and data were analyzed using the repeated measures anova, post-hoc scheffe test and ... | 2015 | 26343303 |
| effects of wildlife and cattle on tick abundance in central kenya. | in african savannas, large mammals, both wild and domestic, support an abundant and diverse population of tick ectoparasites. because of the density of ticks and the many pathogens that they vector, cattle in east africa are often treated with acaricides. while acaricides are known to be effective at reducing tick burdens on cattle, their effects on the overall abundance and community composition of ticks in savanna ecosystems are less well understood. it is also not known how well tick populati ... | 2013 | 24147412 |
| cattle and rainfall affect tick abundance in central kenya. | east africa is a global hot spot for the diversity of ixodid ticks. as ectoparasites and as vectors of pathogens, ticks negatively affect the well-being of humans, livestock and wildlife. to prevent tick infestations, livestock owners and managers typically treat livestock with acaricides that kill ticks when they attempt to feed on livestock hosts. because of the costs of preventing and mitigating tick parasitism, predicting where and when ticks will be abundant is an important challenge in thi ... | 2017 | 29113602 |
| effects of acaricide treatment and host intrinsic factors on tick acquisition and mortality in boran cattle. | ticks and associated pathogens pose serious threats to the health of livestock. to assess the efficacy of acaricide dip treatment (cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos, piperonyl butoxide, citronella), we assessed post-treatment tick acquisition and tick mortality of free-ranging boran cattle inhabiting a wildlife-cattle ranch in northern tanzania. because host intrinsic variables and exposure to ticks may substantially affect tick acquisition, we incorporated host sex, body mass, health condition, and di ... | 2017 | 28983669 |