Molecular and immunomorphological studies on roles of autophagy in blood digestion and protozoa transmission of ticks.

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Ticks are long-lived hematophagous arthropods and have tolerance to starvation. To understand how ticks obtain energy over a long period of non-feeding (starvation), we focused on autophagy, a crucial proteolysis system via the lysosomes for various cellular processes that is induced during starvation in eukaryotes. We identified the homologues of autophagy-related (ATG) genes, and RT-PCR results revealed that their expression of Haemaphysalis longicornis ATG (HlATG) genes showed higher levels during the non-feeding period than the feeding period. It was also demonstrated that autophagic organelles were found in the midgut digestive cells of unfed ticks. In conclusion, the starved condition appears to be associated with the increased expression of HlATG genes in the midgut of unfed ticks.