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Influence of tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) on the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify the influence of tea tree oil (TTO) (Melaleuca alternifolia) tested in its pure and nanostructured (TTO nanoparticles) forms on the reproduction of female Rhipicephalus microplus. For our purpose, female ticks were collected from naturally infected animals and treated in vitro with TTO (1, 5, and 10 %) and TTO nanoparticles (0.075, 0.375, and 0.75 %). In order to validate the tests, they were performed in triplicate using positive (amitraz) and negative (untreated) controls. It was possible to observe that pure TTO (5 and 10 %) and TTO nanoparticles (0.375 and 0.75 %) showed 100 % reproductive inhibition on female ticks. Additionally, pure TTO (1 %) also showed an acaricide effect (70 %), similarly to the positive control (78.3 %). This is the first study demonstrating the activity of pure TTO and TTO nanoparticles on female ticks. Therefore, based on these results, we were able to show that both forms and all concentrations of M. alternifolia affected tick reproduction by inhibiting egg laying and hatching. We were also able to show that TTO nanoparticles potentiated the inhibitor effect of pure TTO on the reproduction of R. microplus.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Chapecó, SC, Brazil

    Rafael Pazinato, Vanderlei Klauck, Andreia Volpato & Aleksandro S. Da Silva

  2. Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil

    Alexandre A. Tonin

  3. Laboratory of Microbiology, Center of Health Science, Centro Universitário Franciscano-UNIFRA, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil

    Roberto C. Santos, Márcia E. de Souza & Rodrigo A. Vaucher

  4. Laboratory of Nanotechnology, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Nanociências, UNIFRA, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil

    Roberto C. Santos, Márcia E. de Souza, Renata Raffin & Patrícia Gomes

  5. Inventiva, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Candice C. Felippi

  6. Graduate School of Animal Science, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Lages, SC, Brazil

    Lenita M. Stefani

Authors
  1. Rafael Pazinato
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  2. Vanderlei Klauck
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  3. Andreia Volpato
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  4. Alexandre A. Tonin
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  5. Roberto C. Santos
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  6. Márcia E. de Souza
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  7. Rodrigo A. Vaucher
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  8. Renata Raffin
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  9. Patrícia Gomes
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  10. Candice C. Felippi
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  11. Lenita M. Stefani
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  12. Aleksandro S. Da Silva
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aleksandro S. Da Silva.

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Pazinato, R., Klauck, V., Volpato, A. et al. Influence of tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) on the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus . Exp Appl Acarol 63, 77–83 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-013-9765-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-013-9765-8

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