Location: Cattle Fever Tick Research Unit
Project Number: 3094-32000-042-085-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Feb 15, 2022
End Date: Feb 14, 2025
Objective:
The objective of this proposal is to alleviate the threat posed by cattle fever ticks on the livestock industry and stake holders. Our goal will be to develop and validate novel acaricides against the cattle fever tick through GPCR target validation and tissue localization of the bioactive chemicals identified in this study.
Approach:
Task 1: Validate novel small molecule hit antagonists of tick kinin receptor in canonical tick pesticide bioassays.
Task 2: Validate small peptidomimetic agonists and small antagonists by injection into nymphs and females.
Task 3: Immunolocalize kinin peptides in tick tissues using a specific anti-kinin antibody.
Task 4: Verify the phenotype obtained by silencing the kinin receptor by silencing the kinin peptide precursor gene by RNAi
Task 5: Uncover the gene network in the gut regulated by kinins.
Task 6: Discovery of small molecules targeting the pyrokinin receptor.
Task 7: Determine gene networks and neuropeptide signaling systems in larvae relevant to water balance and tolerance to desiccation.
