Abstract

The poultry mite, Dermanyssus gallinae, is a parasite of fowl and birds worldwide, causing huge economic losses in production systems. We investigated gene-knockdown approach in identifying potential vaccine antigens, targeting Histamine Releasing Factor (HRF) and Cathepsin D (C), through immersion in dsRNA derived from the two genes, for 7 and 16 h respectively, alongside LacZ control. Quantitativereverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR was used to estimate the extent of gene knockdown. The results show successful knockdown of HRF target after 16 h of immersion in dsRNA. It is suggested that optimization of delivery methods for dsRNA and targeting more genes could enhance knockdown.

Key words: Dermanyssus gallinae (Acari: Astigmata), RNA interference (RNAi), gene silencing, histamine releasing factor, Cathepsin D.

Abbreviation

 HRF, Histamine releasing factor; Dg-CatD, Dermanyssus gallinae cathepsin D; C, cathepsin D; RNAi, RNA interference; dsRNA, double stranded RNA;FEC, faecal egg counts; siRNAs, small interfering RNA molecules