Abstract
In a quest for new interventions against scabies—a highly significant skin disease of mammals, caused by a parasitic mite Sarcoptes scabiei—we are focusing on finding new intervention targets. RNA interference (RNAi) could be an efficient functional genomics approach to identify such targets. The RNAi pathway is present in S. scabiei and operational in the female adult mite, but other developmental stages have not been assessed. Identifying potential intervention targets in the egg stage is particularly important because current treatments do not kill this latter stage. Here, we established an RNAi tool to silence single-copy genes in S. scabiei eggs. Using sodium hypochlorite pre-treatment, we succeeded in rendering the eggshell permeable to dsRNA without affecting larval hatching. We optimised the treatment of eggs with gene-specific dsRNAs to three single-copy target genes (designated Ss-Cof, Ss-Ddp, and Ss-Nan) which significantly and repeatedly suppressed transcription by ~66.6%, 74.3%, and 84.1%, respectively. Although no phenotypic alterations were detected in dsRNA-treated eggs for Ss-Cof and Ss-Nan, the silencing of Ss-Ddp resulted in a 38% reduction of larval hatching. This RNAi method is expected to provide a useful tool for larger-scale functional genomic investigations for the identification of essential genes as potential drug targets.
Highlights
Scabies is a highly significant skin disease of mammals caused by the burrowing, microscopic parasitic mite Sarcoptes scabiei
This study provides proof of principle and establishes an RNA interference (RNAi)-based tool to study
This study provides proof of principle and establishes an RNAi-based tool to study the function(s) of genes genes and/or and/or gene the egg egg stage stage of of S
Summary
Scabies is a highly significant skin disease of mammals caused by the burrowing, microscopic parasitic mite Sarcoptes scabiei. In a direct life cycle, female mites invade the skin and lay many eggs. From these eggs hatch larvae, which develop to nymphs and differentiate into male or female adult mites within ~2 weeks [1]. Scabies is often associated with complications caused by opportunistic or pathogenic bacteria, leading to rheumatic heart disease and/or acute streptococcal glomerulonephritis, either of which can be life threatening if left untreated. In animals, such as pigs, scabies is important and causes increased maintenance costs, reduced growth rates, productivity losses, and major welfare issues [4]. Skin-to-skin contact and fomites are the key sources of transmission [1,5]
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