Journal
CELLULAR MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 12, Issue 9, Pages 1222-1234Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1462-5822.2010.01464.x
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Funding
- National Institutes of Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [K01 CK000101]
- Austrian Fonds zur Forderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung [L314]
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [L314] Funding Source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
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P>Fucosylated structures participate in a wide range of pathological processes in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The impact of fucose on microbial pathogenesis, however, has been less appreciated in arthropods of medical relevance. Thus, we used the tick-borne bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum - the agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis to understand these processes. Here we show that A. phagocytophilum uses alpha 1,3-fucose to colonize ticks. We demonstrate that A. phagocytophilum modulates the expression of alpha 1,3-fucosyltransferases and gene silencing significantly reduces colonization of tick cells. Acquisition but not transmission of A. phagocytophilum was affected when alpha 1,3-fucosyltransferases were silenced during tick feeding. Our results uncover a novel mechanism of pathogen colonization in arthropods. Decoding mechanisms of pathogen invasion in ticks might expedite the development of new strategies to interfere with the life cycle of A. phagocytophilum.
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