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DISRUPTION OF THE SALIVARY PROTEIN 14 IN IXODES SCAPULARIS NYMPHS AND IMPACT ON PATHOGEN ACQUISITION

JOAO H. F. PEDRA, SUKANYA NARASIMHAN, KATHLEEN DEPONTE, NANCY MARCANTONIO, FRED S. KANTOR, AND EROL FIKRIG^*

We previously examined the physiological role of the anticoagulant salivary protein 14 (salp14) in adult Ixodes scapularis and showed that Salp14 played a role in tick feeding and engorgement. We now analyze whether the disruption of the salp14 family expression by RNA interference affects tick weight in naïve nymph I. scapularis. Salp14 expression after dsRNA injection was significantly reduced, as shown by mRNA and protein analysis. However, nymph engorgement weight was not altered in salp9pac (salp14 paralog) dsRNA-injected ticks. We also determined Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum acquisition in I. scapularis nymphs that had reduced Salp14 expression. B. burgdorferi and A. phagocytophilum acquisition was not affected 72 hours after feeding. Our results suggest that different mechanisms govern nymph and adult feeding in I. scapularis.

Received April 26, 2006. Accepted for publication June 21, 2006.

Financial support: This study was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants 5R01AI032947-12, 5R01AI041440-08, and 5R21AI054630-02 to Erol Fikrig. Fred Kantor and Sukanya Narasimhan were supported by NIH Grants 5U01AI054971-03 and 5R21AI057940-02, respectively.

^* Address correspondence to Erol Fikrig, Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, The Anlyan Center for Medical Research and Education, 300 Cedar Street, Room 525, APO Box 208031, New Haven, CT 06520-8031. E-mail: erol.fikrig{at}yale.edu

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors’ addresses: Joao H. F. Pedra, Sukanya Narasimhan, and Erol Fikrig, Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520. Kathleen DePonte, Nancy Marcantonio, and Fred S. Kantor, Section of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520.

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