Kirsty Graham

Should the poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae be of wider concern for veterinary and medical science

The poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae is best known as a threat to the laying-hen industry; adversely affecting production and hen health and welfare throughout the globe, both directly and through its role as a disease vector. Nevertheless, D. gallinae is being increasingly implemented in dermatological complaints in non-avian hosts, suggesting that its significance may extend beyond poultry. The main objective of the current work was to review the potential of D. gallinae as a wider veterinary and medical threat. Results demonstrated that, as an avian mite, D. gallinae is unsurprisingly an occasional pest of pet birds. However, research also supports that these mites will feed from a range of other animals including: cats, dogs, rodents, rabbits, horses and man. We conclude that although reported cases of D. gallinae infesting mammals are relatively rare, when coupled with the reported genetic plasticity of this species and evidence of permanent infestations on non-avian hosts, potential for host-expansion may exist. The impact of, and mechanisms and risk factors for such expansion are discussed, and suggestions for further work made. Given the potential severity of any level of host-expansion in D. gallinae, we conclude that further research should be urgently conducted to confirm the full extent of the threat posed by D. gallinae to (non-avian) veterinary and medical sectors.

Isolation of the monooxygenase complex from Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus – clues to understanding acaricide resistance

The monooxygenase complex is composed of three key proteins, a cytochrome P450 (CYP), the cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (CPR) and cytochrome b5 and plays a key role in the metabolism and detoxification of xenobiotic substances, including pesticides. In addition, overexpression of these components has been linked to pesticide resistance in several important vectors of disease. Despite this, the monooxygenase complex has not been isolated from the Southern cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, a major disease vector in livestock. Using bioinformatics 115 transcriptomic sequences were analyzed to identify putative pesticide metabolizing CYPs. RACE-PCR was used to amplify the full length sequence of one CYP; CYP3006G8 which displays a high degree of homology to members of the CYP6 and 9 subfamilies, known to metabolize pyrethroids. mRNA expression levels of CYP3006G8 were investigated in 11 strains of R. microplus with differing resistance profiles by qPCR, the results of which indicated a correlation with pyrethroid metabolic resistance. In addition to this gene, the sequences for CPR and cytochrome b5 were also identified and subsequently isolated from R. microplus using PCR. CYP3006G8 is only the third CYP gene isolated from R. microplus and the first to putatively metabolize pesticides. The initial results of expression analysis suggest that CYP3006G8 metabolizes pyrethroids but further biochemical characterization is required to confirm this. Differences in the kinetic parameters of human and mosquito CPR in terms of NADPH binding have been demonstrated and could potentially be used to design species specific pesticides. Similar differences in the tick CPR would confirm that this is a characteristic of heamatophagous arthropods.