Identification of genes associated with blood feeding in the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis.

Wayne K Greene,Marion G Macnish,R.C Andrew Thompson,Kim L Rice

doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0972-5

Wayne K Greene, Marion G Macnish + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-015-0972-5

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Abstract

BackgroundThe cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) is a blood-feeding ectoparasitic insect and particular nuisance pest of companion animals worldwide. Identification of genes that are differentially expressed in response to feeding is important for understanding flea biology and discovering targets for their control.MethodsC. felis fleas were maintained and fed for 24 h using an artificial rearing system. The technique of suppression subtractive hybridization was employed to screen for mRNAs specifically expressed in fed fleas.ResultsWe characterized nine distinct full-length flea transcripts that exhibited modulated or de novo expression during feeding. Among the predicted protein sequences were two serine proteases, a serine protease inhibitor, two mucin-like molecules, a DNA topoisomerase, an enzyme associated with GPI-mediated cell membrane attachment of proteins and a component of the insect innate immune response.ConclusionsOur results provide a molecular insight into the physiology of flea feeding. The protein products of the genes identified may play important roles during flea feeding in terms of blood meal digestion, cellular growth/repair and protection from feeding-associated stresses.

Highlights

The cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) is a blood-feeding ectoparasitic insect and particular nuisance pest of companion animals worldwide
Several feeding-specific genes have been isolated from the flea to date, including those encoding digestive proteases, protease inhibitors and synaptic vesicle proteins [5,6,7], many other components involved in the physiology of feeding remain to be identified
Flea rearing A colony of cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis felis) was maintained using an artificial rearing system [9] consisting of a plexiglas temperature-controlled chamber

Summary

Introduction

The cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) is a blood-feeding ectoparasitic insect and particular nuisance pest of companion animals worldwide. C. felis is the dominant flea species infesting both dogs and cats, and as an obligate hematophagous parasite is capable of causing harm by acting as a disease vector [2]. This includes transmission of the bacterial diseases flea-borne spotted fever (Rickettsia felis) and cat-scratch disease (Bartonella henselae), and being an intermediate host of the intestinal cestode Dipylidium caninum, which is spread to dogs and cats via ingestion of infected fleas. Several feeding-specific genes have been isolated from the flea to date, including those encoding digestive proteases, protease inhibitors and synaptic vesicle proteins [5,6,7], many other components involved in the physiology of feeding remain to be identified

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