Tick Resources Core

Univ Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

TICK RESOURCES CORE Abstract: The overarching goal of the Tick Resources Core within this P01 application is to provide support to all three research projects and share reagents, materials, and new technologies with the scientific community. Requests from the community will be handled through the Biodefense and Emerging Infections Research Resources Repository (BEI) website (www.beiresources.org). BEI was established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and has been managed under contract by the American Type Culture Collection for fifteen years. The Core Leader Dr. Jonathan Oliver at the University of Minnesota will continue to collaborate with co-Investigator, Dr. Ulrike Munderloh. Their laboratories have made substantial contributions to developing and refining techniques for mutagenesis, plasmid-based complementation, and functional genomics for rickettsial agents in addition to developing a membrane feeder system for ticks. They have contributed 22 out of 30 Rickettsiales species for sequencing in the “Rickettsiales Genomes” project and has an outstanding record of distributing tick cell lines and microbial isolates to the scientific community. Aim 1 of the Tick Resources Core will provide and develop tick-vector-based tools to support the research for all three research projects within this P01 application. Aim 2 of the Tick Resources Core will characterize the transcriptomic response of established experimental tick cell lines to infection by tick-borne pathogens and develop novel cell lines suitable for analyses of immune pathways that are activated or repressed in response to pathogens. These aims will be achieved through RNA interference by oral exposure in ticks and the development of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR/Cas9) tick cell lines. Model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster have a myriad of tools that facilitate the study of pathogen- arthropod interactions. They also provide critical insights to the fields of entomology, microbiology, and immunology. However, we present strong evidence in this P01 application that Ixodes scapularis ticks have evolved entirely different principles that govern microbial infection, dissemination, and immunity. Therefore, a strong Tick Resources Core is of utmost importance to support all three Projects within this P01 application. By providing existing I. scapularis-based tools and developing novel technologies for investigators, the Tick Resources Core will contribute to uncovering novel paradigms in I. scapularis-microbial interactions. This scientific knowledge has potential implications for basic and translational science.