Disease relevance of Dermacentor

• Spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae were identified by indirect immunofluorescent antibody tests in 1.1% of 6,956 specimens of Dermacentor variabilis collected on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Forty-one of 45 rickettsial isolates were serotyped as Rickettsia montana, one as Rickettsia rickettsii, and three were unidentified [1].
• Toxicity of precocene-2 for the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (acari: Ixodidae) [2].
• Among the 54 Dermacentor occidentalis grouped in 12 pools from Orange County, one pool (8.3%) was PCR positive for Bartonella and similarly one pool (14.3%) was positive among the 30 Dermacentor variabilis ticks grouped in seven pools [3].

High impact information on Dermacentor

• The South Idaho strain of A. marginale was used, as MSP2 expression is restricted to two variants, SGV1 and SGV2, in Dermacentor andersoni [4].
• The application of petroleum jelly, fingernail polish, 70% isopropyl alcohol, or a hot kitchen match failed to induce detachment of adult American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis Say) attached for either 12 to 15 hours or three to four days [5].
• A Dermacentor variabilis cDNA encoding a clip-domain serine proteinase homologue with glycine replacing the catalytic serine was identified from tick haemocytes [6].
• We previously identified a partial Dermacentor variabilis cDNA encoding ferritin HC (HC) subunit homolog (DVFER) that was differentially upregulated in Rickettsia montanensis infected ticks (Mulenga et al., 2003a) [7].
• The gene encoding a 36-kDa (p36) immunomodulatory protein present in saliva of Dermacentor andersoni was cloned in prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression vectors [8].

Biological context of Dermacentor

• Light- and electron-microscopic enzyme cytochemistry was used to localize acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the synganglion (brain) of the tick Dermacentor variabilis [9].
• Fumigation of eggs with the antiallatotropin precocene 2(P2) disrupted development late in embryogenesis in the American dog tick Dermacentor variabilis [10].
• We previously described a Dermacentor varibialis (DV) cDNA that encodes a ubiquitously expressed and tick saliva-secreted functional histamine release factor (HRF) homolog [11].

Anatomical context of Dermacentor

• In previous work, we have shown that a restricted pattern of MSP2 variants is expressed in the salivary glands of Dermacentor andersoni ticks infected with the South Idaho strain of A. marginale [12].
• Of the 1,001 Dermacentor variabilis examined by the hemolymph test, 59 (5.9%) contained rickettsia-like organisms; direct immunofluorescence tests verified the presence of SFT rickettsiae in 14 specimens [13].
• These findings are reconcilable with the results obtained for two other paralysis-causing tick species, Ixodes holocyclus and Dermacentor andersoni, which were indicated to cause paralysis by decreasing the synthesis or release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction [14].

Associations of Dermacentor with chemical compounds

• An immune responsive factor D-like serine proteinase homologue identified from the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis [6].
• In vitro feeding of Dermacentor andersoni (Stiles): effects of histamine and other mediators [15].
• In this study, we have evaluated the protective effect of three compounds (DEET, LIPODEET, and Morpel 220) against attachment of two species of ticks (Amblyomma americanum and Dermacentor variabilis) to rabbit ears [16].
• Densities of winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus) were determined on each of 20 moose (Alces alces) half-hides by dissolving 100 cm2 quadrats in potassium hydroxide solution [17].
• Attraction of immature stages of the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) to 2,6-dichlorophenol [18].

Gene context of Dermacentor

• Peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from purebred Bos indicus and B. taurus were significantly inhibited in their in vitro responses to Con A by salivary gland extracts prepared daily from female Dermacentor andersoni stiles during the course of engorgement [19].
• In the phylogenetic tree of gltA, strains DT-1 and FLA-1 isolated from the Dermacentor taiwanensis and Haemaphysalis frava ticks, respectively, were placed as Rickettsia japonica, and strains IO-1, IO-2, IO-25, IM-1 and IP-2 from genus Ixodes ticks were placed as Rickettsia helvetica [20].
• Spotted fever group rickettsiae in Dermacentor variabilis from Cape Cod, Massachusetts [1].
• RdlDv, a novel GABA-gated chloride channel gene from the American dog tick Dermacentor variabilis [21].
• We cloned a novel member of the invertebrate GABA-gated chloride channel gene family from Dermacentor variabilis, RdlDv [21].

References