Intestinal proteases of free-living and parasitic astigmatid mites |
| |
Authors: | Deborah C Holt Stewart T G Burgess Simone L Reynolds Wajahat Mahmood Katja Fischer |
| |
Institution: | 1. Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, PO Box 41096, Casuarina, NT, 0811, Australia 2. Parasitology Division, Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Edinburgh, EH26 0PZ, Midlothian, Scotland, UK 3. Infectious Diseases Program, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, PO Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, 4029, Australia 4. School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, Australia
|
| |
Abstract: | Among arthropod pests, mites are responsible for considerable damage to crops, humans and other animals. However, detailed physiological data on these organisms remain sparse, mainly because of their small size but possibly also because of their extreme diversity. Focusing on intestinal proteases, we draw together information from three distinct mite species that all feed on skin but have separately adapted to a free-living, a strictly ecto-parasitic and a parasitic lifestyle. A wide range of studies involving immunohistology, molecular biology, X-ray crystallography and enzyme biochemistry of mite gut proteases suggests that these creatures have diverged considerably as house dust mites, sheep scab mites and scabies mites. Each species has evolved a particular variation of a presumably ancestral repertoire of digestive enzymes that have become specifically adapted to their individual environmental requirements. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|