Schedule of plenary lectures
Sunday September 1st
PhD. Mario Pablo Estrada García – CIGB, Cuba – Director of Agricultural Researches
Schedule: 17:30-18:30
Plenay Lecture
Title: The role of agricultural biotechnology in the One Health Commitment
The agricultural biotechnology gives to the food producers tools to produce more cheap, friendly environment, healthy, managemental and profitable. Genetic improvement of plants and animals, the creation of platforms to combat the emergent diseases, the improvement of nutritional and quality of food, the use of new technology among other important issues are tools for the “management of knowledge” in function of food production.
The facts of world increase population, urban migration and the climate change, are three mandatories’ variables to be in consideration for any strategic plan for the future in the food production.
The transition time between the experiment in tubes in our laboratories to the final products to do an impact in the society, must be reduce, with the commitment to work in the next years for One Health as an approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment.
The people of science have a huge challenge using all the data available, the new discover in the science of life, to full fill the food demand and nutritional quality, for the next generations.
In this presentation we are sharing examples from the molecular biology to a final product with their impact in the life of the people.
Prof. Pat Nuttall-Department of Biology, University of Oxford, UK
Schedule: 18:30-19:30
Plenay Lecture of Invited Honored Speaker
Title: “Dynamics of tick feeding and why it matters”
Imagine feeding on an elephant. From sensing the elephant’s presence, climbing onboard, and searching for a good site to dig in, it takes an additional 10 days or more for an adult female elephant tick, Amblyomma tholloni, to fully engorge and then drop off into the vegetation to lay eggs. What happens during these 10 days of blood-feeding?…
We know little of the habits of the elephant tick but studies on other ixodid species are providing insights. Basically, tick feeding is extremely complicated – a neural network of interactions between the tick, its host, and their respective microbiomes (including tick-borne pathogens). Different nodes of this network are active at different times during feeding. Unravelling the hidden layers of these interactions to understand what is happening during tick blood-feeding will most likely require the help of artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, it is possible to examine the significance of ‘time’ by breaking down the feeding period into sequential phases: (i) initiation, (ii) attachment, (iii) slow feeding, (iv) mating, (v) rapid feeding, and finally, (v) detachment. What happens at each phase – to the tick, the host, and any tick-borne pathogens caught up in the mix? This conceptualization of feeding dynamics helps explain why it is important to consider the time dimension when studying tick feeding: to understand the conditions when tick-borne pathogens are transmitted (from tick to host and vice versa), identify vulnerabilities when interventions may be most effective, and optimise strategies for controlling ticks and tick-borne infections. One day, we might even help elephants suffering irritating tick infestations; in the meantime, they must scratch their itch.
Monday September 2nd
Prof. Petr Kopáček- Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czechia
Schedule: 8:30-9:30
Plenay Lecture of Invited Honored Speaker
Title: “Kill the Tick’ – an endless gameplay one never gets tired of”
Ticks are disgusting creatures and dangerous vectors of pathogens that cause serious diseases in humans and animals. And yet these parasites are highly appealing and interesting when viewed open under a microscope or dissected in a test tube. In Czechia where I live, ticks, more precisely Ixodes ricinus (the vector of Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis), are fortunately the only remaining important ectoparasites. All the more reason for them to attract the attention of research scientists and laypeople alike…
These circumstances brought me to tick research about a quarter of a century ago. The first question I asked myself, coming from the field of invertebrate immunity, was: “How can tick-borne pathogens evade the innate immune response of ticks?“ Gradually, we found out that unlike insects or crustaceans, ticks do not have a prophenoloxidase-activating cascade that leads to melanization, but have a highly conserved ancient complement system. Another interesting question that arose some time later was: “How can ticks ingest the extreme amount of host blood, digest it and process it into a huge clutch in a very short time?” Processing the blood meal led to another question: “What do ticks do with the excessive amount of pro-oxidative heme and iron from the host’s hemoglobin?” The surprising scarcity and lack of a core microbiome in the midgut of I. ricinus raised the question of the molecules involved in tick midgut immunity. In today’s post-genomic era, we are inundated with a wealth of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic datasets, and it is quite a challenge to extract relevant and valid information from them. Our task is to further decipher the function of selected molecules or entire signaling pathways using the tools of functional genomics such as RNA interference or experimental membrane feeding. In the future, we will focus on another fascinating feature of tick physiology – the ability of ticks to survive long-term starvation between feeding episodes on their hosts. This topic is closely related to the use of lipid stores, nutrient sensing and signaling.
A better understanding of the molecular physiology of ticks and the mechanisms that facilitate the transmission of tick-borne pathogens will hopefully help us to reach higher levels in the ‘Kill the Tick’ game.
Tuesday September 3th
Dr. Michael Levin, CDC, Atlanta, USA (Retired)
Schedule: 8:30-9:30
Plenay Lecture
Title: “What does it cost to be a vector: Effects of tick-borne pathogens on the survival and behavior of ticks”
Symbiosis is defined as any form of a close and long-term biological interaction between members of different species, termed symbionts, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic. The relationship between ticks and tick-borne pathogens is an example of symbiosis where the latter species critically depend on the former for their propagation and their very existence. In this presentation, I will assess costs and benefits incurred by ticks carrying three important rickettsial tick-borne pathogens to identify the specific types of symbiotic relationships
existing between those pathogens and their respective tick-vectors. To this effect, I will compare life cycle parameters between uninfected ticks and ticks infected with agents of Israeli tick typhus – Rickettsia conorii, Rocky Mountain spotted fever – Rickettsia rickettsii, and human granulocytic anaplasmosis – Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Although no obvious deleterious effects were observed among infected ticks, several of the analyzed parameters decreased in infected ticks indicating antagonistic relationships between the studied tick-borne pathogens and their natural vector. Specifically, infection with R. rickettsii israelensis resulted in decreased both nymphal and adult molting success of Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.s. ticks as well as the feeding success at the nymphal stage. Infection with R. rickettsia prolonged feeding periods of Dermacentor variabilis ticks in all life stages. R. rickettsii-infected nymphal and adult ticks experienced a slight decrease in feeding success compared with ticks from an uninfected colony, but neither nymphal nor adult molting success was affected. Infected females reached smaller engorgement weights, were less efficient in conversion of bloodmeal into eggs, and produced smaller egg clutches with a lower proportion of eggs hatching. However, the longevity was not decreased due to R. rickettsii infection in life any stage. On the other hand, infection with A. phagocytophilum decreased the nymphal molting success of Ixodes scapularis. It also reduced the longevity of infected I. scapularis nymphs. At the same time, individual ticks infected with A. phagocytophilum appeared “hungrier” than the uninfected ones as they moved faster and more directly toward a potential host. Also, both the prevalence of A. phagocytophilum infection among infected tick cohorts and the average quantity of pathogen in starving ticks decreased over time. Overall, symbiotic relationships existing between the three studied tickborne pathogens and their respective vectors can be classified as parasitic.
Thursday September 5th
CEO. Lee Fuller-Fuller Laboratories, USA
Schedule: 8:30-9:30
Plenay Lecture
Title: “A New Look at Rickettsia ELISA assays”
We consider Rickettsia ELISA assays first as reference laboratory automatable assays, then also as a methodology to be formatted as rapid tests. Both Spotted Fever (SFG) and Typhus Group (TG) Rickettsia species are amenable to both IgG and IgM testing without the trouble of interpreting IFA slides microscopically. The group-specific lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigens are excellent substrates for IgG testing of both SFG and TG species due to the early rise in titer during acute phase rickettsiosis.
Also, the barrel peptide of rOmpB can be used successfully to determine species-specific results for IgG when relevant. Yet the IgM assays remain the keystone for acute phase diagnosis. Here the rOmpB-associated β-peptide is that specific antigen that binds only immune IgM. It does not bind IgG or non-immune IgM, making it perfect for both ELISA and rapid test formats. Some new properties of this β-peptide are discussed.
Friday September 6th
PhD. Maxime Madder- Director of Parasitology and Vector Borne Diseases. Clinglobal
Schedule: 8:30-9:30
Plenay Lecture
Title: “Ticked off: tackling the threat of Rhipicephalus microplus in cattle”
The presentation will explore the biology, impact, distribution and management of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus, a significant ectoparasite affecting livestock worldwide. The session will highlight current distribution and displacement and hybridization with other one-host tick species, control methods, such as chemical acaricides, and their limitations, particularly the rise of tick resistance.
Innovative approaches, including integrated pest management strategies and the development of vaccines, will be discussed and the need for standardized models presented. The presentation aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the challenges and advancements in managing Rhipicephalus microplus to improve cattle health and agricultural sustainability.