tick-blood-feeding-through-an-artificial-membrane-on-3d-printed

Tick Blood Feeding through an Artificial Membrane on a 3D-Printed Chamber in Ixodid Tick Research

This work presents a detailed protocol for a tick feeding system through an artificial silicone membrane utilizing a 3D-printed chamber created from ...

University of Arizona

Hard ticks (family Ixodidae) are one of the most predominant arthropod disease vectors worldwide, second only to mosquitoes. In addition to harboring animal and human pathogens, ticks are known to carry a microbial community constituted of non-pathogenic organisms, which includes maternally inherited intracellular endosymbionts and other environmentally acquired extracellular microorganisms. These microbial communities, which include bacteria, viruses, protozoans, and fungi-with often commensal, mutualistic, or parasitic associations with the tick-comprise the tick microbiome, bacteria being the most studied community. Many bacterial taxa frequently reported in ticks include soil, plant, and animal-associated microbes, suggesting many are environmentally acquired, including members with known entomopathogenic potential, such as ,  spp., and  spp. It has been reported that microbial community composition can impact pathogen persistence, dissemination, and fitness in ticks. In the United States,  (northeast) and  (west) are the predominant vectors of , the causal agent of Lyme disease.  is another important tick vector in the U.S. and is becoming an increasing concern as it is the leading cause of alpha-gal syndrome (AGS, or red meat allergy). This condition is caused by tick bites containing the galactose alpha 1,3 galactose (alpha-gal) epitope in their saliva. In this paper, we present a summary of the tick microbiome, including the endosymbiotic bacteria and the environmentally acquired (here referred to as the  community). We will focus on the  bacteria from  spp. and  and discuss their potential for novel biocontrol strategies.

Paulina Maldonado-Ruiz

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