Gut transcriptome analysis on females of Ornithodoros mimon (Acari: Argasidae) and phylogenetic inference of ticks

Abstract Ornithodoros mimon is an argasid tick that parasitizes bats, birds and opossums and is also harmful to humans. Knowledge of the transcripts present in the tick gut helps in understanding the role of vital molecules in the digestion process and parasite-host relationship, while also providing information about the evolution of arthropod hematophagy. Thus, the present study aimed to know and ascertain the main molecules expressed in the gut of argasid after their blood meal, through analysis on the gut transcriptome of engorged females of O. mimon using 454-based RNA sequencing. The gut transcriptome analysis reveals several transcripts associated with hemoglobin digestion, such as serine, cysteine, aspartic proteases and metalloenzymes. The phylogenetic analysis on the peptidases confirmed that most of them are clustered with other tick genes. We recorded the presence a cathepsin O peptidase-coding transcript in ticks. The topology of the phylogenetic inferences, based on transcripts of inferred families of homologues, was similar to that of previous reports based on mitochondrial genome and nuclear rRNA sequences. We deposited 2,213 sequence of O. mimon to the public databases. Our findings may help towards better understanding of important argasid metabolic processes, such as digestion, nutrition and immunity.