EVIDENCE OF COMMON AND GENUS-SPECIFIC EPITOPES ON ORNITHODOROS SPP TICK (ACARI, ARGASIDAE) SALIVARY PROTEINS

New Zealand White rabbits were repeatedly infested with Ornithodoros t uricata (Duges), Ornithodoros talaje (Guerin-Meneville), and Ornithodo ros coriaceus (Koch) at 2-wk intervals. Blood samples were taken from each animal 10 d after each infestation and the titer of anti-tick ant ibody was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Subsequent cross-reactivity studies demonstrated that the antitick antisera nonsp ecifically bound to salivary gland extract proteins prepared from seve ral other tick genera and species; Amblyomma maculatum (Koch), Dermace ntor andersoni (Stiles), Dermacentor variabilis (Say), and Ornithodoro s moubata (Murray). Absorption of the antisera against an immobilized. extract of A. maculatum substantially increased specificity at the ge nus level. Western blots of electrophoretically separated Ornithodoros salivary gland extract samples were used to further compare the speci ficity of absorbed and nonabsorbed antitick antisera. The blots demons trated that many of the Ornithodoros salivary gland extract proteins b ear genus specific epitopes. Some differences were noted among the Orn ithodoros species examined with respect to the degree of antigenic rel atedness with the ixodid ticks.