Embryo Injection Technique for Gene Editing in the Black-Legged Tick, Ixodes scapularis

Ticks can transmit various viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogens and are therefore considered vectors of medical and veterinary importance. Despite the growing burden of tick-borne diseases, research on ticks has lagged behind insect disease vectors due to challenges in applying genetic transformation tools for functional studies to the unique biology of ticks. Genetic interventions have been gaining attention to reduce mosquito-borne diseases. However, the development of such interventions requires stable germline transformation by injecting embryos. Such an embryo injection technique is lacking for chelicerates, including ticks. Several factors, such as an external thick wax layer on tick embryos, hard chorion, and high intra-oval pressure, are some obstacles that previously prevented embryo injection protocol development in ticks. The present work has overcome these obstacles, and an embryo injection technique for the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is described here. This technique can be used to deliver components, such as CRISPR/Cas9, for stable germline transformations.