How tick-borne pathogens interact with their hosts has been primarily studied in vertebrates where disease is observed. Comparatively less is known about pathogen interactions within the tick. Here, we report that Ixodes scapularis ticks infected with either Anaplasma phagocytophilum (causative agent of anaplasmosis) or Borrelia burgdorferi (causative agent of Lyme disease) show activation of the ATF6 branch of the unfolded protein response (UPR). Disabling ATF6 functionally restricts pathogen survival in ticks. When stimulated, ATF6 functions as a transcription factor, but is the least understood out of the three UPR pathways. To interrogate the Ixodes ATF6 transcriptional network, we developed a custom R script to query tick promoter sequences. This revealed stomatin as a potential gene target, which has roles in lipid homeostasis and vesical transport. Ixodes stomatin was experimentally validated as a bona fide ATF6-regulated gene through luciferase reporter assays, pharmacological activators, and RNAi transcriptional repression. Silencing stomatin decreased A. phagocytophilum colonization in Ixodes and disrupted cholesterol dynamics in tick cells. Furthermore, blocking stomatin restricted cholesterol availability to the bacterium, thereby inhibiting growth and survival. Taken together, we have identified the Ixodes ATF6 pathway as a novel contributor to vector competence through Stomatin-regulated cholesterol homeostasis. Moreover, our custom, web-based transcription factor binding site search tool "ArthroQuest" revealed that the ATF6-regulated nature of stomatin is unique to blood-feeding arthropods. Collectively, these findings highlight the importance of studying fundamental processes in non-model organisms.
Importance: Host-pathogen interactions for tick-borne pathogens like Anaplasma phagocytophilum (causative agent of Anaplasmosis) have been primarily studied in mammalian hosts. Comparatively less is known about interactions within the tick. Herein, we find that tick-borne pathogens activate the cellular stress response receptor, ATF6, in Ixodes ticks. Upon activation, ATF6 is cleaved and the cytosolic portion translocates to the nucleus to function as a transcription factor that coordinates gene expression networks. Using a custom script in R to query the Ixodes ATF6 regulome, stomatin was identified as an ATF6-regulated target that supports Anaplasma colonization by facilitating cholesterol availability to the bacterium. Moreover, our custom, web-based tool "ArthroQuest" found that the ATF6-regulated nature of stomatin is unique to arthropods. Given that lipid hijacking is common among arthropod-borne microbes, ATF6-mediated induction of stomatin may be a mechanism that is exploited in many vector-pathogen relationships for the survival and persistence of transmissible microbes. Collectively, this study identified a novel contributor to vector competence and highlights the importance of studying molecular networks in non-model organisms.