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Babesia parasites develop and are transmitted by the non-vector soft tick Ornithodoros moubata (Acari: Argasidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2006

B. BATTSETSEG
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
T. MATSUO
Affiliation:
Department of Infectious Diseases, Kyorin University, School of Medicine, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8611, Japan
X. XUAN
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
D. BOLDBAATAR
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
S. H. CHEE
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
R. UMEMIYA
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
T. SAKAGUCHI
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
T. HATTA
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
J. ZHOU
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
A. R. VERDIDA
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
D. TAYLOR
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
K. FUJISAKI
Affiliation:
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan

Abstract

Ornithodoros moubata ticks were fed on blood infected with Babesia equi. However, the parasites were quickly cleared as evidenced by the disappearance of B. equi-specific ribosomal RNA from the ticks. We hypothesized that if the Babesia parasite can escape midgut-associated barriers a non-vector tick can become infected with Babesia. To test this hypothesis, B. equi parasite-infected blood from in vitro culture was injected into the haemocoel of ticks. B. equi-specific rRNA was surprisingly detected 45 days after injection even in the eggs. Babesia-free dogs were infested with O. moubata ticks that were infected by inoculation with B. gibsoni-infected red blood cells. Parasitaemia and antibody production against Bg-TRAP of B. gibsoni increased gradually. These results indicate that O. moubata may be a useful vector model for Babesia parasites and also a very important tool for studies on tick immunity against Babesia parasites and tick-Babesia interactions.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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