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ARS Home » Plains Area » Kerrville, Texas » Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory » LAPRU » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #324201
Research Project: Management of Flies Associated with Livestock

Location: Livestock Arthropod Pests Research

Title: Interaction of plant essential oil terpenoids with the southern cattle tick tyramine receptor: A potential biopesticide target

Author
item GROSS, AARON - Iowa State University
item Temeyer, Kevin
item DAY, TIM - Iowa State University
item Perez De Leon, Adalberto - Beto
item KIMBER, MICHAEL - Iowa State University
item COATS, JOEL - Iowa State University

Submitted to: Chemico Biological Interactions
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/12/2016
Publication Date: 2/1/2017
Citation: Gross, A.D., Temeyer, K.B., Day, T.A., Perez De Leon, A.A., Kimber, M.J., Coats, J.R. 2017. Interaction of plant essential oil terpenoids with the southern cattle tick tyramine receptor: A potential biopesticide target. Chemico Biological Interactions. 263:1-6.

Interpretive Summary: The southern cattle tick is a devastating pest to the cattle industry worldwide because it transmits serious diseases to cattle and has become resistant to all or most pesticides. There is an urgent need to develop new pesticides to control these ticks. Natural chemicals extracted from plant oils have shown promise for potential use in development of new pesticides and may provide greater environmental safety and reduced toxicity to humans, cattle, and other non-target organisms. A new study reports development and use of a cell culture model system to study the interaction of selected plant chemicals with a potential target protein derived from the southern cattle tick. The chemical activity of the recombinant tick protein was found to be sensitive to a number of the plant chemicals. The properties of specific chemical interactions with the recombinant tick protein that were revealed by these studies will guide further research testing the selected plant chemicals as candidate molecules for development of new tick pesticides.

Technical Abstract: The southern cattle tick (Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus) has historically been a devastating pest to the cattle industry worldwide. The use of chemical acaricides has been the mainstay for controlling the southern cattle tick. However, there have been several reports of chemical acaricide resistance. Therefore, there is a need to identify new biochemical targets along with new chemistry to aid in the control of the southern cattle tick. Botanically-based compounds may provide a safer alternative for efficacious control of the southern cattle tick, and decrease the non-target toxicity when compared with conventional acaricides. Here, we report the use of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing the southern cattle tick’s tyramine receptor with a G-protein chimera, which was used to screen botanical terpenoid compounds. Piperonyl alcohol, cedryl acetate, 1,4-cineole, carvacrol and isoeugenol were discovered to be positive modulators increasing the response of the endogenous ligand, tyramine. Cedryl acetate decreased the effectiveness of tyramine activating the receptor at 10 micromolar and 100 micromolar.