Vývojová glykomika klíštěte Ixodes ricinus

RNDr. Jarmila ŠTĚRBOVÁ

Doctoral thesis

Abstract:

Ticks are increasingly important vectors of human and animal disease; however, the role of their glycans and glycoconjugates in host interaction, pathogen transmission and allergy remains insufficiently understood. This study describes the presence, localisation and origin of sialylated glycans in Ixodes ricinus ticks, their organs, and the tick cell line. Using a combination of microscopic techniques, mass spectrometry, and biochemical analyses, sialylated glycans were found to localise predominantly in salivary glands and the gut, suggesting that most sialylated structures are host-derived and are transported from the blood meal through the gut to the salivary glands. Quantitative analyses of sialic acid, including its metabolically incorporated analogues, further demonstrate that most of the sialylated molecules in adult ticks originate from host blood rather than de novo synthesis, a conclusion supported by similar observations in tick cell cultures. Despite earlier reports indicating minimal sialic acid presence in arthropods, genomic and biochemical analyses in this study identified active sialyltransferase genes and confirmed the tick's capacity to synthesise its own sialylated glycoproteins, further demonstrated through in vitro feeding experiments and Click chemistry-based confirming tick-origin sialylated glycoproteins in all life stages, from eggs and larvae to adult females.

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 21. 7. 2026

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: prof. RNDr. Libor Grubhoffer, CSc.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BOHEMIA IN ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE

Faculty of Science

Doctoral programme / field:
Integrativní biologie / Integrativní biologie