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Targeted silencing of the Aquaporin 2 gene of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus reduces tick fitness

Overview of attention for article published in Parasites & Vectors, December 2015
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Title
Targeted silencing of the Aquaporin 2 gene of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus reduces tick fitness
Published in
Parasites & Vectors, December 2015
DOI 10.1186/s13071-015-1226-2
Pubmed ID
Authors

Hala E. Hussein, Glen A. Scoles, Massaro W. Ueti, Carlos E. Suarez, Fatma K. Adham, Felix D. Guerrero, Reginaldo G. Bastos

Abstract

Ticks are blood-feeding arthropods that can affect human and animal health both directly by blood-feeding and indirectly by transmitting pathogens. The cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is one of the most economically important ectoparasites of bovines worldwide and it is responsible for the transmission of the protozoan Babesia bovis, the etiological agent of bovine babesiosis. Aquaporins (AQPs) are water channel proteins implicated in physiological mechanisms of osmoregulation. Members of the AQP family are critical for blood-feeding arthropods considering the extreme osmoregulatory changes that occur during their feeding. We investigated the pattern of expression of a newly identified AQP2 gene of R. microplus (RmAQP2) in different tick tissues and stages. We also examined in vivo the biological implications of silencing expression of RmAQP2 silencing during tick feeding on either uninfected or B. bovis-infected cattle. In silico gene analyses were performed by multiple alignments of amino acid sequences and topology prediction. Levels of RmAQP2 transcripts in different tick tissues and stages were analyzed by reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR. Patterns of expression of RmAQP2 protein were investigated by immunoblots. Gene silencing was performed by RNA interference and in vivo functional analyses carried out by feeding ticks on either uninfected or B. bovis-infected cattle. RmAQP2 transcripts were found in unfed larvae, engorged nymphs, and salivary glands and guts of partially engorged females; however, of all tick tissues and stages examined, RmAQP2 protein was found only in salivary glands of partially engorged females. RmAQP2 silencing significantly reduced tick fitness and completely abrogated protein expression. The effect of RmAQP2 silencing on fitness was more pronounced in females fed on a B. bovis-infected calf than in ticks fed on an uninfected calf and none of their larval progeny survived. Collectively, considering the gene expression and tick fitness data, we conclude that RmAQP2 is critical for tick blood feeding and may be a suitable candidate target for the development of novel strategies to control R. microplus and tick-borne parasites.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 43 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 1 2%
Chile 1 2%
Unknown 41 95%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 7 16%
Student > Doctoral Student 5 12%
Student > Master 5 12%
Student > Ph. D. Student 5 12%
Student > Bachelor 4 9%
Other 5 12%
Unknown 12 28%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 16 37%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 5 12%
Medicine and Dentistry 2 5%
Nursing and Health Professions 1 2%
Immunology and Microbiology 1 2%
Other 3 7%
Unknown 15 35%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 December 2015.
All research outputs
#20,297,343
of 22,834,308 outputs
Outputs from Parasites & Vectors
#4,848
of 5,467 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#324,920
of 387,655 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Parasites & Vectors
#139
of 150 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,834,308 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,467 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.7. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 387,655 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
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