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Identification of stage-and tissue-specific endogenous tick promoters

Award Number: R21AI176352
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/01/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2026

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Identification of stage-and tissue-specific endogenous tick promoters - SUMMARY The lack of a promoter-reporter system in ticks makes functional genomics studies challenging. A few exogenous promoters that appear to work in tick cell lines are viral (i.e. CAAG/CMV promoter) and are constitutively expressing. However, not all research questions can be approached by constitutively expressing a gene. It is useful to gain temporal control over gene expression. In eukaryotic cells, nuclear DNA and proteins combine to form chromatin, which then undergoes complex and orderly folding to form chromosomes. For genes to be expressed, chromatin must be in an open conformation. Open chromatin allows regulatory proteins to bind to DNA and regulate DNA function. The assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high- throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) enables high-throughput sequencing of open chromatin regions with the help of transposases. ATAC-seq detects chromatin accessibility of related genes and indicates their regulatory mechanisms. Thus, genes with chromatin accessibility in promoters are more likely to be differentially expressed at the mRNA level. Therefore, by combining the power of ATAC-seq to analyze chromatin accessibility in the promoter regions of whole genes in ticks’ tissues and life stages and then screening differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at the mRNA level by transcriptome sequencing technology (RNA-seq), we will obtain temporally and spatially expressed genes and their promoters. Therefore, our hypothesis/ objective is that by combining gene expression (RNAseq) and open chromatin regions using ATACseq (Aim 1), and promoter assays (Aim 2), we will identify constitutive and stage/sex/tissue-specific promoters for gene expression in ticks. Our pioneering work in tick genome sequencing and CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editing has now made tick gene-editing possible and this proposal will further help us improve the gene-editing protocol by developing the promoter-reporter systems that will allow the screening of mutants without the need to sequence every individual.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2025	2024	BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE NEVADA SYSTEM OF HIGHER ED	1664 N VIRGINIA ST # 285	RENO	NV	89557	WASHOE	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	2	8/6/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $237,875 )
2024	2024	BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE NEVADA SYSTEM OF HIGHER ED	1664 N VIRGINIA ST # 285	RENO	NV	89557	WASHOE	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	2	7/24/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$237,875
														Subtotal = $237,875

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $201,125 )
2023	2023	NEVADA SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	1664 N VIRGINIA ST	RENO	NV	89557	WASHOE	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	1	7/31/2023	NEW	$201,125
														Subtotal = $201,125

Grand Total All Awards = $439,000

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Identification of stage-and tissue-specific endogenous tick promoters

Award Number: R21AI176352

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/01/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2026

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