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Published on: July 5, 2019
Mitochondrial fission regulates midgut muscle assembly and tick feeding capacity
Zhengwei Zhong1, Kun Wang1, Ting Zhong1
1State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Department of Infectious Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
Ticks ingest over 100 times their body weight in blood. As the primary tissue for blood storage and digestion, the tick midgut's regulation in response to this substantial blood volume remains unclear. Here, we show that blood intake triggers stem cell proliferation and mitochondrial fission in the midgut of Haemaphysalis longicornis. While inhibiting stem cell proliferation does not impact feeding behavior, disruption of mitochondrial fission impairs tick feeding capacity. Mitochondrial fission mediated by dynamin 2 (DNM2) regulates ATP generation, which in turn influences the expression of the tropomyosin-anchoring subunit troponin T (TNT). Knockdown of TNT disrupts muscle fiber assembly, hindering midgut enlargement and contraction, thereby preventing blood ingestion. These findings underscore the indispensable role of musculature in facilitating midgut expansion during feeding in ticks.
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