Abstract Background Dermanyssus gallinae is a prevalent ectoparasite in the poultry farms, inflicting damage on chicken health through blood-sucking. Chemical acaricides commonly used for mite control often show reduced efficacy due to the development of resistance. Therefore, alternative control methods are needed, and vaccination is a promising strategy for controlling D. gallinae . Methods The mRNA expression of Deg-CYP-3 in mites at various developmental stages, as well as under fed and starved conditions, was analyzed. Subsequently, recombinant protein rCYP-3 was induced, purified, and employed for immunization. Following immunization, antibodies were analyzed and mite challenge was then conducted. Following a 12 h period of blood-feeding on chicks, the mites were collected to evaluate the acaricidal efficacy of the rCYP-3 vaccine. Results The Deg-CYP-3 gene was expressed across all life stages and maintained stable expression levels under both fed and starved conditions. The recombinant protein rCYP-3 was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli and efficiently secreted into the culture supernatant. Immunization with rCYP-3 induced a specific IgY immune response in chicks, as confirmed by ELISA. Moreover, anti-rCYP-3 serum specifically recognized P450 proteins extracted from D. gallinae , as demonstrated by Western blot analysis. Immunization resulted in an 8.1% reduction in adult mite survival ( P > 0.05), whereas nymph survival decreased significantly by 22.4% ( P < 0.01). In addition, oviposition rate, hatching rate, and fecundity were reduced by 2.8%, 2.2%, and 22.0%, respectively, in the immunized group. Overall, vaccine efficacy was calculated to be 30.6% in immunized birds. Furthermore, the expression level of Deg-CYP-3 in mites fed on immunized hosts was significantly lower than that in mites from the unimmunized control group. Conclusions Our findings demonstrated that the Deg-CYP-3 gene exhibits high transcriptional activity during both the adult and nymph stages of D. gallinae . Moreover, its expression remains consistent regardless of the feeding status of adult mites. Immunization with rCYP-3 effectively reduced mite survival, reproductive capacity, and gene expression levels, demonstrating its potential as a preventive and control strategy against D. gallinae . Graphical Abstract
Liu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.