A systematic, functional genomics, and reverse vaccinology approach to the identification of vaccine candidates in the cattle tick, Rhipicephalus microplus

In the post-genomic era, reverse vaccinology is proving promising in the development of vaccines against bacterial and viral diseases, with limited application in ectoparasite vaccine design. In this study, we present a systematic approach using a combination of functional genomics (DNA microarrays) techniques and a pipeline incorporating in silico prediction of subcellular localization and protective antigenicity using VaxiJen for the identification of novel anti-tick vaccine candidates. A total of 791 candidates were identified using this approach, of which 176 are membrane-associated and 86 secreted soluble proteins. A preliminary analysis on the antigenicity of selected membrane proteins using anti-gut antisera yielded candidates with an IgG binding capacity greater than previously identified epitopes of Bm86. Subsequent vaccination trials using recombinant proteins will not only validate this approach, but will also improve subsequent reverse vaccinology approaches for the identification of novel anti-tick vaccine candidates.