Location: Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory
Project Number: 8042-32000-012-024-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Oct 1, 2021
End Date: Sep 30, 2022
Objective:
The main objective of this project is to evaluate toxicity of several new chemical compounds against the blacklegged tick and other tick species of medical importance through the use of in vitro toxicity bioassays and in vivo animal trials under laboratory condition.
Approach:
New chemical compounds will be acquired from either commercial sources or collaborators. Their toxicity against ticks will be evaluated using both in vitro toxicity bioassays and in vivo animal trials under laboratory conditions. Test compounds will be fed to ticks through artificial tick feeding system to obtain information on lethal and sub-lethal concentrations. Promising compounds will be further evaluated in laboratory animals (white-footed mice) by adding the test compounds to rodent diet. Relationship between diet dose and serum concentration of the test compound will be established. Test animals fed with medicated diet will be infested with nymphs or larvae of the black-legged tick. Tick attachment, feeding and survival in treatment groups with be compared to those in the untreated control group to obtain tick efficacy data. The PI will obtain IACUC approval for animal protocols to be used prior to the start of experiments.
