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Background It is well established that ecdysteroid hormones play an important role in arthropod development and reproduction, mediated by ecdysteroid receptors. Ticks are obligate hematophagous arthropods and vectors of pathogens. The salivary gland plays an essential role in tick growth and reproduction and in the transmission of pathogens to vertebrate hosts. During tick development, the salivary gland undergoes degeneration triggered by ecdysteroid hormones and activated by apoptosis. However, it is unknown how the ecdysteroid receptor and apoptosis regulate salivary gland degeneration. Here, we report the functional ecdysteroid receptor (a heterodimer of the ecdysone receptor [EcR] and ultraspiracle [USP]) isolated from the salivary gland of the tick  Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides  and explore the molecular mechanism of ecdysteroid receptor regulation of salivary gland degeneration. Methods The full length of  RhEcR  and  RhUSP  open reading frames (ORFs) was obtained from the transcriptome. The RhEcR and RhUSP proteins were expressed in a bacterial heterologous system,  Escherichia coli . Polyclonal antibodies were produced against synthetic peptides and were able to recognize recombinant and native proteins. Quantitative real-time PCR and western blot were used to detect the distribution of RhEcR, RhUSP, and RhCaspases in the  R. haemaphysaloides  organs. A proteomics approach was used to analyze the expression profiles of the ecdysteroid receptors, RhCaspases, and other proteins. To analyze the function of the ecdysteroid receptor, RNA interference (RNAi) was used to silence the genes in adult female ticks. Finally, the interaction of RhEcR and RhUSP was identified by heterologous co-expression assays in HEK293T cells. Results We identified the functional ecdysone receptor (RhEcR/RhUSP) of 20-hydroxyecdysone from the salivary gland of the tick  R. haemaphysaloides . The  RhEcR  and  RhUSP  genes have three and two isoforms, respectively, and belong to a nuclear receptor family but with variable N-terminal A/B domains. The  RhEcR  gene silencing inhibited blood-feeding, blocked engorgement, and restrained salivary gland degeneration, showing the biological role of the  RhEcR  gene in ticks. In the ecdysteroid signaling pathway,  RhEcR  silencing inhibited salivary gland degeneration by suppressing caspase-dependent apoptosis. The heterologous expression in mammalian HEK293T cells showed that RhEcR1 interacts with RhUSP1 and induces caspase-dependent apoptosis. Conclusions These data show that RhEcR has an essential role in tick physiology and represents a putative target for the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases. Graphical Abstract

The ecdysteroid receptor regulates salivary gland degeneration through apoptosis in Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides