Choice of Laboratory Tissue Homogenizers Matters When Recovering Nucleic Acid From Medically Important Ticks

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Entomology
• Molecular Diagnostics
• Medical Entomology

Background:

• Ticks transmit numerous pathogens, posing a global health risk.
• Mechanical disruption of tick specimens is crucial for diagnostic laboratories.
• Limited research exists on the efficacy of commercial tissue homogenizers for tick processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively compare the performance of four commercial tissue homogenizers for tick disruption.
• To evaluate maceration efficiency, nucleic acid quality and quantity, amplification, and DNA shearing.
• To identify the optimal homogenizer for tick-based diagnostic and research applications.

Main Methods:

• Four tissue homogenizers were evaluated: Bead Ruptor 24 Elite, Bullet Blender Storm, gentleMACS Dissociator, and Precellys 24.
• Quantitative comparisons included maceration level, nucleic acid yield, and DNA integrity.
• Performance was assessed using adult and juvenile *Amblyomma americanum* (Linnaeus) specimens.

Main Results:

• The Bead Ruptor 24 Elite achieved the highest overall score for disrupting adult *Amblyomma americanum*.
• This homogenizer also demonstrated strong performance in processing juvenile samples.
• Effective pathogen detection was achieved using samples disrupted by the Bead Ruptor 24 Elite.

Conclusions:

• The Bead Ruptor 24 Elite is a highly effective tool for mechanical disruption of tick specimens.
• This homogenizer facilitates reliable nucleic acid extraction for pathogen detection in tick surveillance.
• The findings aid diagnostic laboratories in selecting optimal equipment for tick sample processing.