Nuances of Transcriptomics in Understanding Acaricide Resistance in Ticks

Ticks are important economic parasites that are involved in the transmission of disease pathogens in cattles around the world. The health and economic burden caused by tick borne infections has warranted better control measures. At present, control of tick and tick borne diseases is mainly achieved by the wide spread use of chemical acaricides like carbamates, pyrethroids, amidines, organophosphates etc. Development of drug resistance in ticks has made the development of these control measures a problematic and challenging task. Understanding the mechanism behind the drug resistance in ticks is an important step towards achieving this goal.Various research groups across the world have reported different genes involved in drug resistance. However the overall pathway involved in the process still remains unclear. Transcriptomics is a new, emerging revolutionary technology that has been increasingly used for solving complex biological problems. Transcriptomics has led to better understanding of the molecular basis of drug resistance in ticks and several genes that are upregulated or downregulated in response to drug exposure has been identified. Hence, transcriptomics can play a major role in understanding drug resistance in ticks and thus in designing novel tick control measures.