Favorite Tick and Why: The Tropical Bont tick, Amblyomma variegatum, that vectors Ehrlichia ruminantium, the rickettsia that causes heartwater disease. A. variegatum is a beautiful tick and I used a painting of the male on the

Favorite Tick and Why: The Tropical Bont tick, Amblyomma variegatum, that vectors Ehrlichia ruminantium, the rickettsia that causes heartwater disease. A. variegatum is a beautiful tick and I used a painting of the male on the "Save the Tick" t-shirts that I produced in the 1980s. Also, I had the opportunity to do electron microscopy studies of E. ruminantium in A. variegatum at the International Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD) in Nairobi, Kenya in 1984-1985 and the Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute in 1986. These travels were a wonderful experience for me and my family (sons ages then, 12 and 5) and a wonderful research experience for me!

Education:

M.S.P.H. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill l971

Ph.D. Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK l979

Title

Walter R. Sitlington Endowed Chair of Food Animal Research

Phone: (405) 744-7271Fax: (405) 744-5275

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

URL: http://e-archive.library.okstate.edu/katherine_kocan

Area of Research Expertise: Tick/Anaplasma spp. studies, microscopy (light, electron and confocal), RNA interference in ticks, and vaccine development for ticks and tick-borne pathogens.

Research Interests: Ticks and Tick-borne Pathogens, with emphasis on Anaplasma and Ehrlichia spp.; development of vaccines for control of tick infestations and to block transmission of tick-borne pathogens.

Teaching: Graduate seminar in medical entomology; lectures on ticks, tick-borne diseases and tick control methods veterinary students; special topics in microscopy techniques; parasitology journal club.

Selected Publications: (Last 3 years):

Hofmann-Lehmann R, Meli ML, Dreher UM, Gönczi E, Deplazes P, Braun U, Engels, M, Schüpbach J, Jörger K, Thoma R, Griot C, Stärk K, Willi B, Schmidt, J, Kocan KM, Lutz H. 2004.

Concurrent infections with vector-borne pathogens associated with fatal hemolytic anemia in a cattle herd in Switzerland. J Clin Micro, 42:3775-3780.

de la Fuente J, Naranjo V, Ruiz-Fons F, Vicente J, Estrada-Peña AN, Almazán C, Kocan KM, Martín MP, Gortázar C. 2004. Prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in ixodid ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) collected from wild boar (Sus scrofa) and Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) in central Spain. European Journal of Wildlife Research 50:187-196.

de la Fuente J, Passos LMF, Van Den Bussche RA, Ribeiro MFB, Facury-Filho EF, Kocan KM. 2004. Genetic diversity and molecular phylogeny of Anaplasma marginale isolates from Minas Gerais, Brazil, Veterinary Parasitology, 121: 307-316.

Kocan KM, de la Fuente JC, Golsteyn Thomas EJ, Van Den Bussche RA, Hamilton RG, Tanaka EE, Druhan SE, Kocan KM. 2004. Recent studies on the characterization of Anaplasma marginale isolated from North American bison. Annals NY Acad. Sci. 1026: 114-117.

Kocan KM, Blouin EF. 2004. Dedication: Conrad Yunker. Annals NY Acad. Sci. 1026:323-324.

Coetzee JF, Apley MD, Kocan KM, Rurangirwa FR, Van Donkergoed J. 2004. Comparison of three oxytetrocycline regimes for the treatment of persistent Anaplasma marginale infections in beef cattle. Veterinary Parasitology, 127: 61-73.

Stich RW, Olah GA, Brayton KA, Brown WC, Fecheimer M, Green-Church K, Jittapalagong S, Kocan KM, McGuire TC, Rurangirwa FR, Palmer GH. 2004. Identification of a novel Anaplasma marginale appendage-associated protein that localizes with actin filaments during intraerythroctyic infection. Infect Immun, 72: 7257-7264.

Kocan KM, de la Fuente J, Blouin EF, Garcia-Garcia JC. 2004. Anaplasma marginale (Rickettsiales : Anaplasmataceae): recent advances in defining host-pathogen adaptations of a tick-borne rickettsia. Parasitology, 129:S285-S300.de la Fuente J, Almazán C, Van Den Bussche RA, Bowman J, Yoshioka JH, Kocan KM. 2005. Characterization of genetic diversity in Dermacentor andersoni (Acari: Ixodidae) with body size and weight polymorphism. Exper. Parasitology, 109:16-26.

de la Fuente J, Massung RF, Wong S, Chu FK, Lutz H, Meli M, von Loewenich FD, Grzeszczuk A, Torina A, Caracappa S, Mangold AJ, Naranjo V, Stuen S, Kocan KM. 2005. Sequence analysis of the msp4 gene of Anaplasma phagocytophilum strains. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 43: 1309-1317.

de la Fuente J, Ayoubi P, Blouin EF, Almazán C, Naranjo V, Kocan KM. 2005. Gene expression profiling of human promyelocytic cells in response to infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Cellular Microbiology, 7: 549-559.

Almazán C, Blas-Machado U, Kocan KM, Yoshioka JH, Blouin EF, Mangold AJ, de la Fuente J. 2005. Characterization of three Ixodes scapularis cDNAs protective against tick infestations. Vaccine, 23:4403-4416.

Dreher UM, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Meli ML, Regula G, Cagienard AY, Stärk KDC, Doherr MG, Filli F, Hässig M, Braun U, Kocan KM, Lutz H. 2005 Seroprevalence of anaplasmosis among cattle in Switzerland in 1998 and 2003: No evidence of an emerging disease. Vet Microbiol. 107:71-79.

de la Fuente, Torina A, Caracappa S, Tumino G, Furlá R, Almazán C, Kocan KM. 2005. Serologic and molecular characterization of Anaplasma species infection in farm animals and ticks from Sicily. Veterinary Parasitology 133: 357-362.

de la Fuente J, Almazán C, Blouin EF, Naranjo V, Kocan KM. 2005. RNA interference screening in ticks for identification of protective antigens. Parasitol. Res., 96:137-141.

Revel AT, Blevins JS, Almazán C, Kocan KM, de la Fuente J, Hagman KE, Norgard MV. 2005. bptA(bbe16) is essential for the persistence of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, in its natural tick vector. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 102:6972-6977.

de la Fuente J, Torina A, Naranjo V, Caracappa S. Vicente J, Mangold AJ, Vicari D, Alongó A, Scimeca S, Kocan KM. 2005. Genetic diversity of Anaplasma marginale strains from cattle farms with different husbandry systems in the Province of Palermo, Sicily. Journal of Veterinary Medicine B, 52:226-229.

Kocan KM, Yoshioka J, Sonenshine DE, de la Fuente J, Ceraul SM, Blouin EF, Almazán C. 2005. Capillary tube feeding system for studying tick/pathogen interactions of Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) and Anaplasma marginale (Rickettisales: Anaplasmataceae). Journal of Medical Entomology, 42:864-874.

Dreher UM, de la Fuente J, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Meli MK, Pusteria N, Kocan KM, Woldehiwet A, Regula G, Stark KDC. 2005. Serologic cross-reactivity between Anaplasma marginale and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology 12:1177-1183.

de la Fuente J, Torina A, Naranjo V, Caracappa S, Di Marco V, Alongi A, Russo M, Maggio AR, Kocan KM. 2005. Infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum in a seronegative patient with confirmed granulocytic anaplasmosis in Sicily, Italy: Case Report. Annals Clin. Microbiol. Antimicrobials, 4:15.

Almazán C, Kocan KM, Blouin EF, de la Fuente J. 2005. Vaccination with recombinant tick antigens for the control of Ixodes scapularis adult infestations. Vaccine, 23: 5294-5298.

Cummings CA, Panciera RJ, Kocan KM, Mathew JS, Ewing SA. 2005. Characterization of stages of Hepatozoon americanum and of parasitized canine host cells. Veterinary Pathology 42:788-796.

de la Fuente J, Naranjo V, Ruiz-Fons F, Höfle U, Fernández de Mera IG, Villanua, D., Almazán C, Torina A, Kocan KM, Gortázar C. 2005. Potential vertebrate reservoir hosts and invertebrate vectors of Anaplasma marginale and A. phagocytophilum in central Spain. Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 5:390-401.

de la Fuente, J., Lew, A., Lutz, H., Meli, M.L., Hofmann-Lehmann, R., Shkap, V., Molad, T., Mangold, A.J., Almazán, C., Naranjo, V., Gortázar, C., Torina, A., Caracappa, S., García-Pérez, A.L., Barral, M., Oporto, B., Ceci, L., Carelli, G., Blouin, E.F., Kocan, K.M. 2005. Genetic diversity of Anaplasma species major surface proteins and implications for anaplasmosis serodiagnosis and vaccine development. Animal Health Research Reviews 6:75-89.

Kocan KM, Kaufman WR. 2006. Book Review: White as a Ghost, Winter Ticks and Moose. American Entomologist, 52(4) Winter.

Naranjo V, Höfle U, Vicent J, Martín MP, Ruiz-Fons F, Gortázar C., Kocan KM, de la Fuente J. 2006. Genes differentially expressed in oropharyngeal tonsils and mandibular lymph nodes of diseased and healthy European wild boar naturally exposed to Mycobacterium bovis. FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol., 46:298-312.

de la Fuente, Almazán C, Naranjo V, Blouin EF, Kocan KM. 2006. Synergistic effect of silencing by RNA interference the expression of tick protective antigens 4D8 and BM86 in Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Parasitology Research 99: 108-113.

de la Fuente J, Alamazán C, Naranjo V, Blouin EF, Meyer JM, Kocan KM. 2006. Autocidal control of ticks by silencing of a single gene by RNA interference. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 344:332-338.

de la Fuente J, Almazán C, Blas-Machado U, Naranjo V, Mangold AJ, Blouin EF, Gortazär C, Kocan KM. 2006. The tick protective antigen, 4D8, is a conserved protein involved in modulation of tick feeding and reproduction. Vaccine, 24:4082-4095.

de la Fuente J, Kocan KM. 2006. Strategies for development of vaccines for control of ixodid tick species. Parasite Immunology, 28: 275-283.

Kocan KM. 2006. Dedication: Jim C. Williams. Annals NY Acad. Sci. 1081:xvii-xviii.Naranjo V, Ruiz-Fons, R, Höfle U, Fernändez der Mera IF, Villanúa D, Almazán C, Torina A, Caracappa S, Kocan KM, Gortázar C, de la Fuente J. 2006. Molecular epidemiology of human and bovine anaplasmosis in southern Europe. Annals NY Acad. Sci., 1078:95-99.de la Fuente J, Ayoubi P, Blouin EF, Almazán C, Naranjo V, Kocan KM. 2006. Anaplasmosis: focusing on host-vector-pathogen interactions for vaccine development. Annals NY Acad. Sci., 1078:416-423.

de la Fuente J, Atkinson MW, Hogg JT, Miller DS, Naranjo V, Almazán C, Anderson N, Kocan KM. 2006. Genetic characterization of Anaplasma ovis strains from bighorn sheep in Montana. J. Wildlife Dis. 42:381-385.

Coetzee JF, Apley MD, Kocan KM. 2006. Comparison of the efficacy of enrofloxacin, imidocarb and oxytetracycline for clearance of persistent Anaplasma marginale infections. Veterinary Therapeutics 7:347-360.

Coetzee JF, Apley MD, Kocan KM, Jones JE. 2006. Flow cytometry evaluation of selected antimicrobials for clearance of Anaplasma marginale in short-term erythrocyte cultures, Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 29: 173-183.

Naranjo V, Ayoubi P, Vicente, J, Ruiz-Fons F, Gortazar C, Kocan KM, de la Fuente J. 2006. Selected genes upregulated in tuberculosis-free European wild boar are possible correlates of resistance to Mycobacterium bovis infection. Veterinary Microbiology, 116: 224-231.

de la Fuente J, Torina A, Naranjo V, Nicosia S, Alongi A, La Mantia F, Kocan KM. 2006. Molecular characterization of Anaplasma platys strains from dogs in Sicily, Italy BMC Veterinary Research, 2: 24-29.

de la Fuente J, Canales M, Kocan KM. 2006. Significance of protein glycosylation in tick vaccines. Letter to the Editor, Parasite Immunology, 28: 287-288.

Sonenshine DE, Kocan KM, de la Fuente J. 2006. Tick control: further thoughts on a research agenda. Trends in Parasitology, 22: 550-551.

de la Fuente J, Almazán C, Blouin EF, Naranjo V, Kocan KM. 2006. Reduction of tick infections with Anaplasma marginale and A. phagocytophilum by targeting the tick protective antigen subolesin. Parasitology Research, 100:85-91.

Zweygarth E, Josemans AI, Spickett AM, Steyn HC, Putterill J, Troskie PC, Mtshali S. Bell-Sakyi L, Shkap V, Fish L, Kocan KM, Blouin EF. 2006. In vitro cultivation of a South African Isolate of an Anaplasma sp. in tick cell cultures. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 73:251-255.

de la Fuente J, Atkinson MW, Naranjo V, Fernández de Mera IG, Mangold AJ, Keating KA, Kocan KM. 2007. Sequence analysis of the msp4 gene of Anplasma ovis strains. Veterinary Microbioogy. 119:375-381.

de la Fuente J, Ruybal P, Mtshali MS, Naranjo V. Li Shuqing L, Mangold AJ, Rodríguez SD, Jiménez R, Vicente J, Moretta R, Torina A, Almazán C, Mbati PM, Torioni de Echaide S, Farber M, Gortazar C, Kocan KM, 2007. Analysis of world strains of Anaplasma marginale using major surface protein 1a repeat sequences. Veterinary Microbiology, 119:382-390.

Blas-Machado U, de la Fuente J, Blouin EF, Almazán C, Kocan KM. 2007. Splenomegaly, a hallmark gross lesion of acute granulocytic anaplasmosis in C3H/HeJ Mice. Veterinary Pathology, 44:64-73.

Mtshali MS, de la Fuente J, Ruybal P, Kocan KM, Vicente J, Mbati PA, Shkap V, Blouin EF, Mohale NE, Spickett AM, Latif AA. 2007. Prevalence and genetic diversity of Anaplasma marginale strains in cattle in South Africa. Zoonoses and Public Health 54:23-30.

Kocan KM, Manzano R, de la Fuente, J. 2007. Transovarial silencing of the subolesin gene in three-host ixodid tick species after injection of replete females with subolesin dsRNA. Parasitology Research, 100:1411-1415.

Nijhof AM, Taoufik A, de la Fuente J, Kocan KM, de Vries E, Jongejan F. 2007. Gene silencing of the tick protective antigens, Bm86, Bm 91 and subolesin, in the one-host tick, Boophilus microplus by RNA interference. Int. J. Parasitology, 37:653-662.

Coetzee JF, Schmidt PL, Apley MD, Reinbold JB, Kocan KM. 2007. Comparison of the complement fixation and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests for serodiagnosis of Anaplasma marginale infection in experimentally infected steers. JAVMA, 68:872-878.

de la Fuente J Almazán C, Canales M, Pérez de la Lastra JM, Kocan KM, Willadsen P. 2007. A ten-year review of commercial vaccine performance for control of tick infestations on cattle. Animal Health Research Reviews 8:23-28.

de la Fuente J, Kocan KM, Blouin EF. 2007. Tick vaccines and the transmission of tick-borne pathogens. Veterinary Research Communications, 31(Suppl.1):85-90.

Kocan KM, de la Fuente J, Blouin EF. 2007. Targeting the tick/pathogen interface for developing new anaplasmosis vaccine strategies. Veterinary Research Communications, 31(Suppl.1): 91-96.

de la Fuente J, Kocan, KM, Almazán C, Blouin EF. 2007. RNA interference for the study and genetic manipulation of ticks. Trends in Parasitology, 23:427-433.

Naranjo V, Villar M, Paz Martín-Hernando M, Vidal D, a Höfle U, Gortazar C, Kocan KM, Vázquez J, de la Fuente J. 2007. Characterization of differential stress/inflammatory responses in mandibular lymph nodes of European wild boars naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis. Proteomics, 7:220-231.

de la Fuente J, Kocan KM, Mangold AJ, Blouin EF, Rodriguez RD, Naranjo V, Alamazán V, Jiménez R. 2007. Biogeograpy and molecular evolution of Anaplasma species. Veterinary Parasitology, In press.

Kocan KM, de la Fuente J, Blouin EF, Coetzee JF, Ewing SA. 2007. The Natural History of Anaplasma marginale. Veterinary Parasitology, In press.

Kocan KM, de la Fuente J, Blouin EF. 2007. Characterization of the tick-pathogen-host interface of the tick-borne rickettsiae, Anaplasma marginale. In (Bowman & Nuttall, eds), Ticks: Biology, Diseases & Control, In press.

Torina, A., Naranjo, V., Pennisi, M. G., Patania, T., Vitale, F., Laricchiuta, P., Alongi, A., Scimeca, S., Kocan, K. M., de la Fuente, J. 2007. Serologic and molecular characterization of tick-borne pathogens in lions (Panthera leo) from the Fasano Safari Park. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, In press.

de la Fuente J, Blouin EF, Manzano-Roman R, Naranjo V, Almazán C, Pérez de la Latra JM, Zivkovic Z, Jongejan F, Kocan KM. 2007. Functional genomic studies of tick cells in response to infection with the cattle pathogen, Anaplasma marginale. Genomics, In press.

de la Fuente J, Manzano-Roman R, Blouin EF, Naranjo V, Kocan KM. 2007. Sp110 transcription is induced and required by Anaplasma phagocyptohilum for infection of human promyelocytic cells. BMC Infectious Diseases, In press.

Torina A, Alongi A, Naranjo V, Scimeca S, Nicosia S, . Di Marco, V, Caracappa S, Kocan KM, de la Fuente J. 2007. Characterization of Anaplasma infections in Sicily, Italy. New York Academy of Sciences, In press.

de la Fuente J, Blouin EF, Manzano-Roman R, Naranjo V, Almazán C, Pérez de la Lastra JM, Zivkovic Z, Massung RF, Jongejan F, Kocan KM. 2007. Expression of the tick protective antigen, subolesin, in Anaplasma marginale and A. phagocytophilum infected cells. New York Academy of Sciences, In press, July.

Blouin EF, Manzano-Roman R., de la Fuente J, Kocan KM. 2007. Defining the role of selected tick genes in tick cell culture by use of RNA Interference. New York Academy of Sciences, In press.

Manzano-Roman R, Almazán C, Naranjo V, Blouin EF, Kocan KM, de la Fuente J. 2007. Expression of perilipin in human promyelocytic cells in response to Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection results in modified lipid metabolism. Journal of Medical Microbiology, In press.