The different components of the mouthparts of hard ticks (Ixodidae) enable these parasites to penetrate host skin, secrete saliva, embed, and suck blood. Moreover, the tick's mouthparts represent a key route for saliva-assisted pathogen transmission as well as pathogen acquisition from blood meal during the tick feeding process. Much has been learned about the basic anatomy of the tick's mouthparts and in the broad outlines of how they function in previous studies. However, the precise mechanics of these functions are little understood. Here, we propose for the first time an animated model of the orchestration of the tick mouthparts and associated structures during blood meal acquisition and salivation. These two actions are known to alternate during tick engorgement. Specifically, our attention has been paid to the mechanism underlining the blood meal uptake into the pharynx through the mouth and how ticks prevent mixing the uptaken blood with secreted saliva. We animated function of muscles attached to the salivarium and their possible opening /closing of the salivarium, with a plausible explanation of the movement of saliva within the salivarium and massive outpouring of saliva.

Crytur spol s r o Na Lukách 2283 CZ 51101 Turnov Czech Republic

Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Viničná 7 CZ 12843 Praha Czech Republic

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 31 CZ 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Institute of Parasitology Biology Centre Czech Academy of Sciences Branišovská 31 CZ 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Laboratory for Malaria and Vector Research NIAID National Institutes of Health Rockville Maryland USA

UMR BIPAR INRAE Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort ANSES Université Paris Est Maisons Alfort France

Veterinary Research Institute Hudcova 296 70 CZ 621 00 Brno Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Karlsson ME, Andersson MO. Babesia species in questing Ixodes ricinus, Sweden. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2016;7:10–12. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2015.07.016. PubMed DOI

Strnad M, Hönig V, Růžek D, Grubhoffer L, Rego ROM. Europe-wide meta-analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato prevalence in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2017;83:e00609–17. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00609-17. PubMed DOI PMC

Sonenshine, D. E. & Roe, R. M. Overview: Ticks, People, and Animals in Biology of Ticks (eds. Sonenshine, D. E. & Roe, R. M.), vol. 1, 2nd ed., 3–16 (Oxford University Press; 2014).

Nuttall PA. Wonders of tick saliva. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2019;10:470–481. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.11.005. PubMed DOI

Kim BH, Kim HK, Lee SJ. Experimental analysis of the blood-sucking mechanism of female mosquitoes. J. Exp. Biol. 2011;214:1163–1169. doi: 10.1242/jeb.048793. PubMed DOI

Ha YR, Ryu J, Yeom E, Lee SJ. Comparison of the tracheal systems of Anopheles sinensis and Aedes togoi larvae using synchrotron X-ray microscopic computed tomography (respiratory system of mosquito larvae using SR-μCT) Microsc. Res. Tech. 2017;80:985–993. doi: 10.1002/jemt.22890. PubMed DOI

Richter Dania, Matuschka Franz-Rainer, Spielman Andrew, Mahadevan L. How ticks get under your skin: insertion mechanics of the feeding apparatus of Ixodes ricinus ticks. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2013;280(1773):20131758. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1758. PubMed DOI PMC

Sonenshine, D. E. & Roe, R. M. External and Internal Anatomy of Ticks in Biology of Ticks (eds. Sonenshine, D. E. & Roe, R. M.), vol. 1, 2nd ed., 74–98 (Oxford University Press; 2014).

Arthur DR. The capitulum and feeding mechanism of Ixodes hexagonus Leach. Parasitol. 1951;41:66–81. doi: 10.1017/S0031182000016590. PubMed DOI

Moorhouse DE, Tatchell RJ. The feeding processes of the cattle tick Boophilus microplus (Canestrini): a study in host-parasite relations. Part I. Attachment to the host. Parasitol. 1966;56:623–632. doi: 10.1017/S003118200007164X. PubMed DOI

Arthur DR. The capitulum and feeding mechanism of Ixodes hexagonus Leach. II. Parasitol. 1953;42:187–191. doi: 10.1017/S0031182000084444. PubMed DOI

Kemp DH, Tatchell RJ. The mechanism of feeding and salivation in Boophilus microplus (Canestrini, 1887) Z. Parasitenkd. 1971;37:55–69. doi: 10.1007/BF00259545. PubMed DOI

Sonenshine, D. E. & Anderson, J. M. Mouthparts and Digestive System: Anatomy and Molecular Biology of Feeding and Digestion in Biology of Ticks (eds. Sonenshine, D. E. & Roe, R. M.), vol. 1, 2nd ed., 122–162 (Oxford University Press; 2014).

Kremer JR, Mastronarde DN, McIntosh JR. Computer visualization of three-dimensional image data using IMOD. J. Struct. Biol. 1996;116:71–76. doi: 10.1006/jsbi.1996.0013. PubMed DOI

Hisashi Y, Satoshi S, Teruaki U. Functional morphology of the feeding apparatus of the cattle tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis. J. Fac. Agr. Kyushu Univ. 1987;32:19–29.

Kempt, D. H., Stone, B. F. & Binnigton, K. C. Tick Attachment and Feeding: Role of the Mouthparts, Feeding Apparatus, Salivary Gland Secretions and the Host Response in Physiology of Ticks: Current Themes in Tropical Science (eds. Obenchain, F. D. & Galun, R.), vol. 1, 119–168 (Pergamon, 1982).

Gregson, J. D. Electrical observations of tick feeding in relation. Proc. 2nd Int. Congr. Acarol., 329–339 (1969).

Tatchell RJ, Carnell R, Kemp DH. Electrical studies of the feeding of the cattle-Tick, Boophilus microplus. Z. Parasitenkd. 1972;38:32–44. doi: 10.1007/BF00259482. PubMed DOI

Waladde SM, Kemp DH, Rice MJ. Feeding electrograms and fluid uptake measurements of cattle tick Boophilus microplus attached on artificial membranes. Int. J. Parasitol. 1979;9:89–95. doi: 10.1016/0020-7519(79)90096-1. DOI

Gregson JD. Morphology and functioning of the mouthparts of Dermacentor andersoni Stiles. Part I. The feeding mechanism in relation to the tick. Acta Trop. 1960;17:48–72. PubMed

Bockenstedt LK, et al. What ticks do under your skin: two-photon intravital imaging of Ixodes scapularis feeding in the presence of the lyme disease spirochete. Yale J. Biol. Med. 2014;87:3–13. PubMed PMC

Tatchell RJ. A modified method for obtaining tick oral secretions. J. Parasitol. 1967;53:1106–1107. doi: 10.2307/3276849. PubMed DOI

Coons, L. B. & Alberti, G. Acari: Ticks in Microscopic Anatomy of Invertebrates (ed. Harrison, F. W.), vol. 8b, 267–514 (Wiley-Liss, 1999).

Suppan J, Engel B, Marchetti-Deschmann M, Nürnberger S. Tick attachment cement – reviewing the mysteries of a biological skin plug system. Biol. Rev. Camb. Philos. Soc. 2018;93:1056–1076. doi: 10.1111/brv.12384. PubMed DOI PMC

Stone BF, Commins MA, Kemp DH. Artificial feeding of the Australian paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus and collection of paralyzing toxin. Int. J. Parasitol. 1983;13:447–454. doi: 10.1016/S0020-7519(83)80007-1. PubMed DOI

Pathogenicity and virulence of Borrelia burgdorferi

Cholinergic axons regulate type I acini in salivary glands of Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes scapularis ticks