Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Vector Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Rockville, MD, United States.
Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2019 Jun;10(4):787-797. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2019.03.013. Epub 2019 Mar 20.
Lipids play key roles in arthropod metabolism. In ticks, these biomolecules are transported from fat body to other organs, such as ovary and Gené's organ. Gené's organ, an apparatus found exclusively in female ticks, secretes a protective wax coat onto the egg surface, increasing egg viability in the environment due to waterproof, cohesive, and antimicrobial properties. In this work, a combined transcriptomic and proteomic approach shows that Gené's organ not solely secrets compounds taken up from the hemolymph, but is actively engaged in synthesis, modification, and oxidation of lipids. Gené's organ was analyzed at two distinct stages: 1) when ticks detach from host by the end of hematophagous phase, and 2) during egg-laying. Data show that Gené's organ undergoes a maturation process before the onset of oviposition, in preparation for its role during egg-laying. Because it deals with a wax-secreting organ, the study focused on lipid metabolism, examining a full machinery to synthesize, modify, and oxidize fatty acids. Proteins involved in sterol modification, transport, and degradation were also addressed. In addition to highlighting Gené's organ importance in tick reproductive physiology, the results reveal proteins and pathways crucial to egg wax secretion, and consequently, egg development in the environment. Tools targeting these molecules and pathways would impair egg viability in the environment, and therefore have the potential to be developed into novel tick control methods.
脂质在节肢动物代谢中起着关键作用。在蜱中，这些生物分子从脂肪体运输到其他器官，如卵巢和Gené's 器官。Gené's 器官是一种仅在雌性蜱中发现的装置，它在卵表面分泌一层保护性的蜡质涂层，由于具有防水、粘性和抗菌特性，从而提高了卵在环境中的存活率。在这项工作中，一种组合的转录组学和蛋白质组学方法表明，Gené's 器官不仅分泌从血淋巴中吸收的化合物，而且还积极参与脂质的合成、修饰和氧化。对 Gené's 器官在两个不同阶段进行了分析：1）当蜱在吸血阶段结束时从宿主上脱落，2）在产卵时。数据表明，Gené's 器官在产卵前经历了一个成熟过程，为其在产卵期间的作用做准备。由于它涉及一个分泌蜡的器官，因此该研究侧重于脂质代谢，检查了一个完整的合成、修饰和氧化脂肪酸的机制。还研究了涉及固醇修饰、运输和降解的蛋白质。除了强调 Gené's 器官在蜱生殖生理学中的重要性外，研究结果还揭示了与卵蜡分泌以及环境中卵发育相关的蛋白质和途径至关重要。针对这些分子和途径的工具会削弱卵在环境中的存活率，因此有可能被开发成新的蜱控制方法。
