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The study also found that JAK/STAT receptors and pathways are critical for normal tick development. The team knocked down the gene needed to synthesize the Dome1 protein, at which point the tick developed abnormally, growing deformed legs, mouthparts, and a digestive system that prevented it from feeding and completing its normal developmental cycle.

These findings convey a wise evolutionary tale. The JAK/STAT signaling cascade and receptors have developed in ticks to integrate the two critical processes of immunity and development. Bacteria compete with ticks for resources in the blood of infected hosts, so ticks access these nutrients by boosting their growth and development when they get signals that their blood is infected. Simultaneously, this mechanism enables the tick to generate an immune response long before the bacteria begin to infect.

"The adaptability of the conserved cell signaling pathway is surprising," said the study's lead author, Professor Utpal Pal, "and it is impressive that this signaling pathway, which exists in all multicellular organisms from sponges to humans, is so flexible that it can accept ligands from evolutionarily distantly related species."

This study identifies prospective targets for the development of anti-tick vaccines and drugs to prevent Lyme disease transmission, as well as fresh insights on the evolution of biomolecular interdependence among species.