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Identification and expression of potential olfactory-related genes related to Niemann–Pick C2 protein and ionotropic receptors in Haemaphysalis longicornis

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Abstract

Studies have shown that the main pathway for tick host localization and perception of mating information may be chemosensory. However, chemical communication in ticks is poorly understood, especially in those other than the Ixodes ticks. Niemann–Pick C2 (NPC2) protein and ionotropic receptors (IRs) are considered to be closely related to the perception of infochemicals in arthropods. Through bioinformatic analysis, eight NPC2 and four IR candidate genes were identified through screening and identification of the transcriptome sequencing database of Haemaphysalis longicornis. Phylogenetic tree analysis indicated that H. longicornis possesses similar homology to the genus Ixodes. A comparison of the expression of NPC2 and IR in tick forelegs (first pair of legs), hind legs (fourth pair of legs), and capitula using RT-PCR revealed that, barring HlonNPC2-8, 11 candidate genes were highly expressed in the foreleg and capitulum, which are the main sensory organs of ticks. They were also expressed in the hind legs, except for six genes that were not expressed in the males. RT-qPCR analysis showed upregulation and higher relative expression of HlonNPC2-1, HlonNPC2-3, HlonNPC2-6, and HlonNPC2-8 when stimulated by ammonium hydroxide, whereas the others were downregulated and demonstrated lower relative expression. These results further support the putative role of NPC2s as a new odorant carrier in ticks and present 12 promising candidate genes for understanding tick olfactory communication, enriching the data on these genes, especially outside the genus Ixodes.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Key Technologies R&D Program and the National Science and Technology Key Projects on Major Infectious Diseases (grant numbers 2017ZX10303404-006-002, 2018ZX10101002-002-011). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation of the manuscript. We are also grateful to KANG Yang, XUE Zhijing, and XU Ailing for their help with the RT-qPCR experiments.

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  1. Yingying Cui and Jungang Wang have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, WHO Collaborating Centre for Vector Surveillance and Management, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

    Yingying Cui, Qiyong Liu, Dongmei Li, Wen Zhang, Xiaobo Liu, Jun Wang, Xiuping Song, Feng Yao, Haixia Wu & Ning Zhao

  2. College of Agriculture, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, China

    Yingying Cui & Jungang Wang

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  1. Yingying Cui
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Contributions

HXW, NZ, YYC, and JGW: Conception and design of the work. YYC, NZ, FY, and XPS: Acquisition of data. YYC, DML, WZ, and XBL: Data analysis and interpretation. YYC: Drafting of the manuscript. HXW, NZ, QYL, and JGW: Revision of the article and final approval. All authors read and approved the final manuscript for submission.

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Correspondence to Haixia Wu or Ning Zhao.

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Animal experiments were approved by the Animal Experimental Ethics Board of the China CDC (approval number 2020-006).

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Cui, Y., Wang, J., Liu, Q. et al. Identification and expression of potential olfactory-related genes related to Niemann–Pick C2 protein and ionotropic receptors in Haemaphysalis longicornis. Exp Appl Acarol 87, 337–350 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-022-00729-4

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