Rickettsia rickettsii transcriptome - Blood feeding response

One of the most important vectors of the Brazilian Spotted Fever, the tick Amblyomma aureolatum in Brazil was used in this study. We laboratorial controlled the infection of adult females of A. aureolatum with the virulent brazilian strain Taiacu of Rickettsia rickettsii. The group of ticks was divided into 2 testing groups, group 2 (G2) composed of adult females incubated at 35°C for 3 days that were not fed after molting to adults and group 3 (G3) composed of adult females fed on its favorite natural host, the dog (Canis familiaris) also for 3 days. Right after incubation or feeding, ticks were individually dissected and all internal organs were transferred to RNAlater® Solution (Life Technologies) until gDNA and total RNA simultaneously isolation. A total of 14 ticks of each group were analyzed in two biological replicates (7 ticks each). Dye-swap was also applied to construct the technical replicate of each biological sample total RNA from both experimental samples (G2 and G3) was used for hybridization to dual channel arrays. Two biological replicates were used for each experimental group.