Transcriptomic profiling of the digestive tract of the rat flea, < i > Xenopsylla cheopis < /i > , following blood feeding and infection with < i > Yersinia pestis < /i >

by David M. Bland, Craig A. Martens, Kimmo Virtaneva, Kishore Kanakabandi, Dan Long, Rebecca Rosenke, Greg A. Saturday, Forrest H. Hoyt, Daniel P. Bruno, Jos é M. Ribeiro, B. Joseph HinnebuschYersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is a highly lethal pathogen transmitted by the bite of infected fleas. Once ingested by a flea,Y.pestis establish a replicative niche in the gut and produce a biofilm that promotes foregut colonization and transmission. The rat fleaXenopsylla cheopis is an important vector to several zoonotic bacterial pathogens includingY.pestis. Some fleas naturally clear themselves of infection; however, the physiological and immunological mechanisms by which this occurs are largely uncharacterized. To address this, RNA was extracted, sequenced, and distinct transcript profiles were assembledde novo fromX.cheopis digestive tracts isolated from fleas that were either: 1) not fed for 5 days; 2) fed sterile blood; or 3) fed blood containing ~5x108 CFU/mlY.pestis KIM6+. Analysis and comparison of the transcript profiles resulted in identification of 23 annotated (and 11 unknown or uncharacterized) digestive tract transcripts that comprise the early transcriptional response of the rat flea gut to infection withY.pestis. The data indicate that production of antimicrobial peptides regulated by the immune-deficiency pathway (IMD) is the primary flea immune response to infection withY.pestis. The remaining infection-responsive transcripts, not obviously associat...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research