Optimizing tick artificial membrane feeding for Ixodes scapularis

Scientific Reports · 6 authors, 2 centres

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TL;DR

This study optimized laboratory conditions for feeding Ixodes scapularis ticks on artificial membranes, finding that adjusting light cycles and using thinner membranes improved tick attachment and engorgement rates. It also demonstrated that antibiotic use, while preventing contamination, can harm tick fitness by disrupting their native microbiome.

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Researchers tested the impact of light cycles, membrane thickness, ATP supplementation, and antimicrobials on tick feeding success. Adding ATP as a phagostimulant did not significantly improve outcomes. A key finding was that ticks could be successfully fed without antibiotics or antimycotics, showing negligible mortality and viable progeny. Conversely, gentamicin treatment, while preventing microbial growth, negatively impacted overall tick fitness, particularly oviposition success, and significantly reduced the levels of the maternally inherited symbiont Rickettsia buchneri in larval progeny. The implications are that precise environmental emulation and minimal chemical intervention can yield a more successful and physiologically relevant AMF system for I. scapularis research.

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other

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infectious disease

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ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10533868

Optimizing tick artificial membrane feeding for Ixodes scapularis

Scientific Reports

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ABSTRACT

Abstract Artificial membrane feeding (AMF) is a powerful and versatile technique with a wide range of applications in the study of disease vectors species. Since its first description, AMF has been under constant optimization and standardization for different tick species and life stages. In the USA, Ixodes scapularis is the main vector of tick-borne zoonoses including the pathogens causing Lyme disease in humans and animals. Seeking to improve the overall fitness of I. scapularis adult females fed artificially, here, we have optimized the AMF technique, considerably enhancing attachment rate, engorgement success, egg laying, and egg hatching compared to those described in previous studies. Parameters such as the membrane thickness and the light/dark cycle to which the ticks were exposed were refined to more closely reflect the tick’s natural behavior and life cycle. Additionally, ticks were fed on blood only, blood + ATP or blood + ATP + gentamicin. The artificial feeding of ticks on blood only was successful and generated a progeny capable of feeding naturally on a host, i.e., mice. Adding ATP as a feeding stimulant did not improve tick attachment or engorgement. Notably, the administration of gentamicin, an antibiotic commonly used in tick AMF to prevent microbial contamination, negatively impacted Rickettsia buchneri endosymbiont levels in the progeny of artificially fed ticks. In addition, gentamicin-fed ticks showed a reduction in oviposition success compared to ticks artificially fed on blood only, discouraging the use of antibiotics in AMF. Overall, our data suggest that the AMF of adult females on blood only, in association with the natural feeding of their progeny on mice, might be used as an integrated approach in tick rearing, eliminating the use of protected species under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Of note, although optimized for I. scapularis adult ticks, I. scapularis nymphs, other tick species, and sand flies could also be fed using the membrane described in this study, indicating that it might be a suitable alternative for the artificial feeding of a variety of hematophagous species. Subject terms: Parasitology, Symbiosis, Biological techniques

CITATION EXPORT

Melina Garcia Guizzo, Claudio Meneses, Pedro Amado Cecilio et al.. Optimizing tick artificial membrane feeding for Ixodes scapularis. Scientific Reports. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-43200-z

AUTHORS

6 · 2 CENTRES

Melina Garcia Guizzo, Claudio Meneses, Pedro Amado Cecilio, Patricia Hessab Alvarenga, Daniel Sonenshine, Jose M Ribeiro

1Vector Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD USA
2Vector Molecular Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD USA

Melina Garcia Guizzo, Claudio Meneses, Pedro Amado Cecilio et al.. Optimizing tick artificial membrane feeding for Ixodes scapularis. Scientific Reports. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-43200-z