Basic Medical Sciences student discusses ongoing tick research at national conference

Shovon Lal Sarkar

First-year graduate student Shovon Lal Sarkar was selected to present his research exploring tissue localization and profiling of bacterial organisms in the invasive Asian longhorned tick at the American Society for Rickettsiology 2023 meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, this summer.   

He conducted the research during a rotation in the lab of Meghan Hermance, Ph.D., an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the Whiddon College of Medicine.   

Sarkar’s project identifies the normal bacterial symbionts – which are organisms living in symbiosis – associated with different organs and in the whole tick in different temperature conditions using high-throughput sequencing targeting regions of a specific gene, he said.   

This fall, Sarkar is joining the lab of Kevin Macaluso, Ph.D., professor and Locke Distinguished Chair of Microbiology and Immunology at the Whiddon College of Medicine. His research will mainly focus on the role of the small RNAs in tick saliva, he said, and transmission of rickettsial agents to a host.  

Rickettsial infections, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, are bacterial diseases that can produce mild to severe, flu-like symptoms and are transmitted through the bites of arthropods such as fleas and ticks.  

If untreated, the toll of the disease on humans can be severe. In the United States, about 5,500 rickettsial infection cases are reported each year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The actual number is likely much larger because many cases go unreported. There are no vaccines available to prevent rickettsial infections, and antibiotics are not recommended for prevention of such diseases.