Project description:Asian salamander Hynobiidae is commonly observed in the Far East Asia regions, including Korea, Japan, China, and the eastern region of Russia. In Korea, there are four Hynobiidae species known to be lived: Hynobius leechii, Hynobius quelpaertensis, Hynobius yangi, and recently reported Hynobius unisacculus. However, even H. leechii which is broadly colonized in Korea peninsula seems to have a new species candidate, which has distinctive genetic and phenotypic characteristics. Genomic resources are essential to understand the current status of these species, but due to the large size of their genomes (about 16 to 20 Gb), it is not easy to analyze. To reveal the genomic characteristics of these species, we constructed more than ten thousands of protein-coding gene sequences from multiple samples of each species, using the de novo transcriptome assembly approach from RNA-Seq data, confirming their taxonomic relationship which was reported based on mitochondrial DNA and marker genes. Also, by comparing previously reported transcriptome of Hynobius chinensis and Hynobius retardatus, lived in China and Japan, respectively, we found that Korean species have unique genetic signatures. By comparing vertebrate model organism genes, we reported Hynobidaii specific proteins. These data would be a useful resource to study other Caudata species in the future. This research was supported by the National Institute of Biological Resources, Republic of Korea, under the project "Genetic diversity of animal resources” (NIBR201703203 and NIBR201803101).
Project description:Lobachevsky University DNAm dataset. Whole blood DNA Methylation (EPIC) profiles from healthy samples from two regions: central Russia (131 samples) and Yakutia (114 samples) obtained in the Laboratory of System Medicine for Healthy Aging, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia Dataset contains DNAm data from 245 healthy control samples from two regions: central Russia (131) and Yakutia (114). The following characteristics are available for all samples: sex, age, region. Healthy participants in the central Russia region were recruited in 2019–2022. Yakutian participants we recruited in 2022. All measurements were performed at the Laboratory of System Medicine for Healthy Aging, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
Project description:Powassan virus (POWV), a vector-borne pathogen transmitted by Ixodes ticks in North America, is the causative agent of Powassan encephalitis. As obligate hematophagous organisms, ticks transmit pathogens like POWV at the tick bite site, specifically during the initial stages of feeding. Tick-feeding and salivary factors modulate the host's immunological responses, facilitating blood feeding and pathogen transmission. However, the mechanisms of immunomodulation during POWV transmission remain inadequately understood. In this study, we investigated the global cutaneous transcriptomic changes associated with tick bites during POWV transmission. We collected skin biopsies from the tick attachment sites at 1-, 3-, and 6-hours post-feeding by POWV-infected and uninfected ticks, followed by RNA sequencing of these samples. Differentially expressed genes were analyzed for pathway enrichment using gene ontology and pathway enrichment analyses. Our findings reveal that tick feeding alone significantly impacts the skin transcriptome within the first 1 to 3 hours of tick attachment. Although early POWV transmission induces minimal changes in the local environment, a pronounced shift toward a proinflammatory state is observed 6 hours post tick attachment, characterized by neutrophil recruitment and interleukin signaling. These transcriptomic data elucidate the dynamic changes at the tick bite site, transitioning from changes that assist blood meal acquisition to a proinflammatory phase that may facilitate viral dissemination.
2025-02-05 | GSE282786 | GEO
Project description:Metagenomic analysis of tick viromes
Project description:There has been an emergence and expansion of tick-borne diseases in Europe, Asia and North America in recent years, including Lyme disease, tick-borne encephalitis, and human anaplasmosis. The primary tick vectors implicated are hard ticks of the Ixodes genera. Although much is known about the host response to these bacterial and viral pathogens, there is limited knowledge of the cellular responses to infection within the tick vector. The bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum (A. phagocytophilum), is able to bypass apoptotic processes in ticks, enabling infection to proceed. However, the tick cellular responses to infection with the flaviviruses tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and louping ill virus (LIV), which cause tick-borne encephalitis and louping ill respectively, are less clear. Infection of an Ixodes ricinus (I. ricinus) tick cell line with the viruses LIV and TBEV, and the bacterium A. phagocytophilum, identified activation of common and distinct cellular pathways. In particular, commonly-upregulated genes included those that modulate apoptotic pathways (HSP70), putative anti-pathogen genes (FKBP and XBL1), and genes that influence the tick innate immune response, including selective activation of toll genes. These data provide an insight into potentially key genes involved in the tick cellular response to viral or bacterial infection.