Rhipicephalus microplus salivary transcriptome. Rhipicephalus microplus

After finding a host, ticks must attach to the skin and then overcome the ensuing host allergic and immune responses, but little are known in detail about the specific responses that inhibit blood feeding. The biology of the cattle tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, requires that these responses are maintained for three weeks. Some bovine breeds are highly susceptible to ticks whereas in others, infestation results in an inefficient feeding and reproduction of ticks. In order to elucidate the mechanisms that result in these differential outcomes between breeds, we examined global tick salivary transcriptome when feeding of susceptible or resistant breeds of bovines when they underwent a primary infestation.