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Defensins from the tick Ixodes scapularis are effective against phytopathogenic fungi and the human bacterial pathogen Listeria grayi.

ABSTRACT: Ixodes scapularis is the most common tick species in North America and a vector of important pathogens that cause diseases in humans and animals including Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis. Tick defensins have been identified as a new source of antimicrobial agents with putative medical applications due to their wide-ranging antimicrobial activities. Two multigene families of defensins were previously reported in I. scapularis. The objective of the present study was to characterise the potential antimicrobial activity of two defensins from I. scapularis with emphasis on human pathogenic bacterial strains and important phytopathogenic fungi.Scapularisin-3 and Scapularisin-6 mature peptides were chemically synthesised. In vitro antimicrobial assays were performed to test the activity of these two defensins against species of different bacterial genera including Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Listeria spp. as well as Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa along with two plant-pathogenic fungi from the genus Fusarium. In addition, the tissue-specific expression patterns of Scapularisin-3 and Scapularisin-6 in I. scapularis midgut, salivary glands and embryo-derived cell lines were determined using PCR. Finally, tertiary structures of the two defensins were predicted and structural analyses were conducted.Scapularisin-6 efficiently killed L. grayi, and both Scapularisin-3 and Scapularisin-6 caused strong inhibition (IC50 value: ~1 ?M) of the germination of plant-pathogenic fungi Fusarium culmorum and Fusarium graminearum. Scapularisin-6 gene expression was observed in I. scapularis salivary glands and midgut. However, Scapularisin-3 gene expression was only detected in the salivary glands. Transcripts from the two defensins were not found in the I. scapularis tick cell lines ISE6 and ISE18.Our results have two main implications. Firstly, the anti-Listeria and antifungal activities of Scapularisin-3 and Scapularisin-6 suggest that these peptides may be useful for (i) treatment of antibiotic-resistant L. grayi in humans and (ii) plant protection. Secondly, the antimicrobial properties of the two defensins described in this study may pave the way for further studies regarding pathogen invasion and innate immunity in I. scapularis.

SUBMITTER: Tonk M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4269947 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Defensins from the tick Ixodes scapularis are effective against phytopathogenic fungi and the human bacterial pathogen Listeria grayi.

Tonk Miray M Cabezas-Cruz Alejandro A Valdés James J JJ Rego Ryan O M RO Chrudimská Tereza T Strnad Martin M Šíma Radek R Bell-Sakyi Lesley L Franta Zdeněk Z Vilcinskas Andreas A Grubhoffer Libor L Rahnamaeian Mohammad M

Parasites & vectors 20141203

<h4>Background</h4>Ixodes scapularis is the most common tick species in North America and a vector of important pathogens that cause diseases in humans and animals including Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis. Tick defensins have been identified as a new source of antimicrobial agents with putative medical applications due to their wide-ranging antimicrobial activities. Two multigene families of defensins were previously reported in I. scapularis. The objective of the present study was to ...[more]

PMID: 25443032

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Project description:BackgroundIxodes scapularis, commonly known as the blacklegged or deer tick, is the main vector of Lyme disease in the United States. Recent progress in transcriptome research has uncovered hundreds of different proteins expressed in the salivary glands of hard ticks, the majority of which have no known function, and include many novel protein families. We recently identified transcripts coding for two putative cytosolic sulfotransferases in these ticks which recognized phenolic monoamines as their substrates. In this current study, we characterize the genetic expression of these two cytosolic sulfotransferases throughout the tick life cycle as well as the enzymatic properties of the corresponding recombinant proteins. Interestingly, the resultant recombinant proteins showed sulfotransferase activity against both neurotransmitters dopamine and octopamine.ResultsThe two sulfotransferase genes were coded as Ixosc SULT 1 & 2 and corresponding proteins were referred as Ixosc Sult 1 and 2. Using gene-specific primers, the sulfotransferase transcripts were detected throughout the blacklegged tick life cycle, including eggs, larvae, nymphs, adult salivary glands and adult midgut. Notably, the mRNA and protein levels were altered upon feeding during both the larval and nymphal life stages. Quantitative PCR results confirm that Ixosc SULT1 was statistically increased upon blood feeding while Ixosc SULT 2 was decreased. This altered expression led us to further characterize the function of these proteins in the Ixodid tick. The sulfotransferase genes were cloned and expressed in a bacterial expression system, and purified recombinant proteins Ixosc Sult 1(R) and 2(R) showed sulfotransferase activity against neurotransmitters dopamine and octopamine as well as the common sulfotransferase substrate p-nitrophenol. Thus, dopamine- or octopamine-sulfonation may be involved in altering the biological signal for salivary secretion in I. scapularis.ConclusionsCollectively, these results suggest that a function of Ixosc Sult 1 and Sult 2 in Ixodid tick salivary glands may include inactivation of the salivation signal via sulfonation of dopamine or octopamine.

Project description:The cystatins are inhibitors of papain- and legumain-like cysteine proteinases, classified in MEROPS subfamilies I25A-I25C. This study shows that 84 % (42/50) of tick cystatins are putatively extracellular in subfamily I25B and the rest are putatively intracellular in subfamily I25A. On the neighbor joining phylogeny guide tree, subfamily I25A members cluster together, while subfamily I25B cystatins segregate among prostriata or metastriata ticks. Two Ixodes scapularis cystatins, AAY66864 and ISCW011771 that show 50-71 % amino acid identity to metastriata tick cystatins may be linked to pathways that are common to all ticks, while ISCW000447 100 % conserved in I. ricinus is important among prostriata ticks. Likewise metastriata tick cystatins, Dermacentor variabilis-ACF35512, Rhipicephalus microplus-ACX53850, A. americanum-AEO36092, R. sanguineus-ACX53922, D. variabilis-ACF35514, R. sanguineus-ACX54033 and A. maculatum-AEO35155 that show 73-86 % amino acid identity may be essential to metastriata tick physiology. RT-PCR expression analyses revealed that I. scapularis cystatins were constitutively expressed in the salivary glands, midguts and other tissues of unfed ticks and ticks that were fed for 24-120 h, except for ISCW017861 that are restricted to the 24 h feeding time point. On the basis of mRNA expression patterns, I. scapularis cystatins, ISCW017861, ISCW011771, ISCW002215 and ISCW0024528 that are highly expressed at 24 h are likely involved in regulating early stage tick feeding events such as tick attachment onto host skin and creation of the feeding lesion. Similarly, ISCW018602, ISCW018603 and ISCW000447 that show 2-3 fold transcript increase by 120 h of feeding are likely associated with blood meal up take, while those that maintain steady state expression levels (ISCW018600, ISCW018601 and ISCW018604) during feeding may not be associated with tick feeding regulation. We discuss our findings in the context of advancing our knowledge of tick molecular biology.

Project description:BackgroundThe emergence of vector-borne pathogens in novel geographic areas is regulated by the migration of their arthropod vectors. Blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) and the pathogens they vector, including the causative agents of Lyme disease, babesiosis and anaplasmosis, continue to grow in their population sizes and to expand in geographic range. Migration of this vector over the previous decades has been implicated as the cause of the re-emergence of the most prevalent infectious diseases in North America.MethodsWe systematically collected ticks from across New York State (hereafter referred to as New York) from 2004 to 2017 as part of routine tick-borne pathogen surveillance in the state. This time frame corresponds with an increase in range and incidence of tick-borne diseases within New York. We randomly sampled ticks from this collection to explore the evolutionary history and population dynamics of I. scapularis. We sequenced the mitochondrial genomes of each tick to characterize their current and historical spatial genetic structure and population growth using phylogeographic methods.ResultsWe sequenced whole mitochondrial genomes from 277 ticks collected across New York between 2004 and 2017. We found evidence of population genetic structure at a broad geographic scale due to differences in the relative abundance, but not the composition, of haplotypes among sampled ticks. Ticks were often most closely related to ticks from the same and nearby collection sites. The data indicate that both short- and long-range migration events shape the population dynamics of blacklegged ticks in New York.ConclusionsWe detailed the population dynamics of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) in New York during a time frame in which tick-borne diseases were increasing in range and incidence. Migration of ticks occurred at both coarse and fine scales in the recent past despite evidence of limits to gene flow. Past and current tick population dynamics have implications for further range expansion as habitat suitability for ticks changes due to global climate change. Analyses of mitochondrial genome sequencing data will expound upon previously identified drivers of tick presence and abundance as well as identify additional drivers. These data provide a foundation on which to generate testable hypotheses on the drivers of tick population dynamics occurring at finer scales.

Dataset Information

Defensins from the tick Ixodes scapularis are effective against phytopathogenic fungi and the human bacterial pathogen Listeria grayi.

Publications

Defensins from the tick Ixodes scapularis are effective against phytopathogenic fungi and the human bacterial pathogen Listeria grayi.

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