Yunlong Yang

TL;DR: Insights from genome analyses into parasitic processes unique to ticks, including host ‘questing', prolonged feeding, cuticle synthesis, blood meal concentration, novel methods of haemoglobin digestion, haem detoxification, vitellogenesis and prolonged off-host survival are reported.

TL;DR: This is the first report on the functional characterization of the CAP(2b)/PVK receptor from any tick species which will now permit the discovery of the physiological roles of these neuropeptides in ticks, as neurohormones, neuromodulators and/or neurotransmitters.

TL;DR: This is the first pharmacological analysis of a PK/PBAN/DH-like receptor from the Chelicerata, which will now permit the discovery of the endocrinological roles of this neuropeptide family in vectors of vertebrate pathogens.

TL;DR: This study provides the first characterization of an eicosanoid receptor in insects, and paves the way for establishing the hierarchy in signaling steps required for establishing insect immune responses to infections.

TL;DR: The cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus microplus leucokinin-like peptide receptor (LKR), is a GPCR that was immunolocalized to the periphery of the female midgut and silenced through RNA interference (RNAi) in females and a role of the kinin receptor in tick reproduction is apparent.