Revisiting the sialome of the cat flea Ctenocephalides felis. 2023

Stephen Lu, and Monika Danchenko, and Kevin R Macaluso, and José M C Ribeiro
Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.

The hematophagous behaviour emerged independently in several instances during arthropod evolution. Survey of salivary gland and saliva composition and its pharmacological activity led to the conclusion that blood-feeding arthropods evolved a distinct salivary mixture that can interfere with host defensive response, thus facilitating blood acquisition and pathogen transmission. The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, is the major vector of several pathogens, including Rickettsia typhi, Rickettsia felis and Bartonella spp. and therefore, represents an important insect species from the medical and veterinary perspectives. Previously, a Sanger-based sialome of adult C. felis female salivary glands was published and reported 1,840 expressing sequence tags (ESTs) which were assembled into 896 contigs. Here, we provide a deeper insight into C. felis salivary gland composition using an Illumina-based sequencing approach. In the current dataset, we report 8,892 coding sequences (CDS) classified into 27 functional classes, which were assembled from 42,754,615 reads. Moreover, we paired our RNAseq data with a mass spectrometry analysis using the translated transcripts as a reference, confirming the presence of several putative secreted protein families in the cat flea salivary gland homogenates. Both transcriptomic and proteomic approaches confirmed that FS-H-like proteins and acid phosphatases lacking their putative catalytic residues are the two most abundant salivary proteins families of C. felis and are potentially related to blood acquisition. We also report several novel sequences similar to apyrases, odorant binding proteins, antigen 5, cholinesterases, proteases, and proteases inhibitors, in addition to putative novel sequences that presented low or no sequence identity to previously deposited sequences. Together, the data represents an extended reference for the identification and characterization of the pharmacological activity present in C. felis salivary glands.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D005260 Female Females
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012463 Saliva The clear, viscous fluid secreted by the SALIVARY GLANDS and mucous glands of the mouth. It contains MUCINS, water, organic salts, and ptylin. Salivas
D012469 Salivary Glands Glands that secrete SALIVA in the MOUTH. There are three pairs of salivary glands (PAROTID GLAND; SUBLINGUAL GLAND; SUBMANDIBULAR GLAND). Gland, Salivary,Glands, Salivary,Salivary Gland
D058251 Ctenocephalides A genus of FLEAS in the family Pulicidae. It includes the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis), one of the most common species on earth. Cat Flea,Ctenocephalides felis,Cat Fleas,Flea, Cat,Fleas, Cat
D058267 Flea Infestations Parasitic attack by members of the order SIPHONAPTERA. Flea Infestation,Infestation, Flea,Infestations, Flea
D040901 Proteomics The systematic study of the complete complement of proteins (PROTEOME) of organisms. Peptidomics
D041161 Rickettsia felis A species of gram-negative bacteria transmitted by the flea Ctenocephalides felis, and known to infect CATS, oppossums, and humans.

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