Ticks Resist Skin Commensals with Immune Factor of Bacterial Origin.

ABSTRACT: Ticks transmit a diverse array of microbes to vertebrate hosts, including human pathogens, which has led to a human-centric focus in this vector system. Far less is known about pathogens of ticks themselves. Here, we discover that a toxin in blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) horizontally acquired from bacteria-called domesticated amidase effector 2 (dae2)-has evolved to kill mammalian skin microbes with remarkable efficiency. Secreted into the saliva and gut of ticks, Dae2 limits skin-associated staphylococci in ticks while feeding. In contrast, Dae2 has no intrinsic ability to kill Borrelia burgdorferi, the tick-borne Lyme disease bacterial pathogen. These findings suggest ticks resist their own pathogens while tolerating symbionts. Thus, just as tick symbionts can be pathogenic to hu

SUBMITTER: Hayes BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8034492 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature