title: Babesia parasites develop and are transmitted by the non-vector soft tick Ornithodoros moubata (Acari: Argasidae).
abstract: Ornithodoros moubata ticks were fed on blood infected with Babesia equi. However, the parasites were quickly cleared as evidenced by the disappearance of B. equi-specific ribosomal RNA from the ticks. We hypothesized that if the Babesia parasite can escape midgut-associated barriers a non-vector tick can become infected with Babesia. To test this hypothesis, B. equi parasite-infected blood from in vitro culture was injected into the haemocoel of ticks. B. equi-specific rRNA was surprisingly detected 45 days after injection even in the eggs. Babesia-free dogs were infested with O. moubata ticks that were infected by inoculation with B. gibsoni-infected red blood cells. Parasitaemia and antibody production against Bg-TRAP of B. gibsoni increased gradually. These results indicate that O. moubata may be a useful vector model for Babesia parasites and also a very important tool for studies on tick immunity against Babesia parasites and tick-Babesia interactions.
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Battsetseg
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xuan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boldbaatar
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chee
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Umemiya
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakaguchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hatta
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Verdida
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujisaki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000635:transmission*; D004064:Digestive System / Q000276:immunology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006736:Horses / Q000469:parasitology; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D009758:Nymph; D026861:Ornithodoros / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D012335:RNA, Ribosomal