An insight into the sialotranscriptome of the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Saliva of hematophagous arthropods contains a diverse mixture of compounds that counteracts host hemostasis. Immunomodulatory and antiinflammatory components are also found in these organisms' saliva. Blood feeding evolved at least ten times within arthropods, providing a scenario of convergent evolution for the solution of the salivary potion. Perhaps because of immune pressure from hosts, the salivary proteins of related organisms have considerable divergence, and new protein families are often found within different genera of the same family or even among subgenera. Fleas radiated with their vertebrate hosts, including within the mammal expansion initiated 65 million years ago. Currently, only one flea species-the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis-has been investigated by m

SUBMITTER: Ribeiro JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3458046 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature