Multiple ferritins are vital to successful blood feeding and reproduction of the hard tick Haemaphysalis longicornis

• Published in: Journal of experimental biology Vol. 216; no. Pt 10; pp. 1905 - 1915
• Main Authors: Galay, Remil L., Aung, Kyaw M., Umemiya-Shirafuji, Rika, Maeda, Hiroki, Matsuo, Tomohide, Kawaguchi, Hiroaki, Miyoshi, Noriaki, Suzuki, Hiroshi, Xuan, Xuenan, Mochizuki, Masami, Fujisaki, Kozo, Tanaka, Tetsuya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 15.05.2013
• Subjects: Animals; Blotting, Western; DNA, Complementary - genetics; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Escherichia coli; Feeding Behavior - physiology; Female; Ferritins - genetics; Ferritins - metabolism; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; Gastrointestinal Tract - cytology; Gastrointestinal Tract - metabolism; Gastrointestinal Tract - ultrastructure; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Haemaphysalis longicornis; Immune Sera - metabolism; Iron - metabolism; Ixodidae; Ixodidae - genetics; Ixodidae - growth & development; Ixodidae - physiology; Organ Specificity - genetics; Recombinant Proteins - metabolism; Reproducibility of Results; Reproduction - physiology; RNA Interference; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Survival Analysis; Vitellogenins - genetics; Vitellogenins - metabolism; iron; ferritin; RNA interference; ticks

Ticks are obligate hematophagous parasites and important vectors of diseases. The large amount of blood they consume contains great quantities of iron, an essential but also toxic element. The function of ferritin, an iron storage protein, and iron metabolism in ticks need to be further elucidated....