Rhipicephalus spp. (Acari: Ixodidae) ticks are obligate hematophagous arthropods, which constitute a model for the study of vector-host interactions. The chemical composition or elementome of salivary glands (SG) and cement provides information relevant for the study of protein-based complex multifunctional tissues with a key role in tick biology. In this study, we characterized the elementome of cement cones in Rhipicephalus sanguineus collected from naturally infested dogs and in SG and cement of R. bursa collected from experimentally infested rabbits at different feeding stages. The elementome was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed the identification of up to 14 chemical elements in the cement, and suggested tick/host-driven differences in the cement elementome between tick species and between SG and cement within the same species. By still unknown mechanisms, ticks may regulate cement elementome during feeding to affect various biological processes. Although these analyses are preliminary, the results suggested that N is a key component of the cement elementome with a likely origin in SG/salivary proteins (i.e., Glycine (C₂H₅NO₂)-rich superfamily member proteins; GRPs) and other tick/host-derived components (i.e. NAPDH). Future research should be focused on tick elementome and its functional implications to better understand cement structure and function.

扇头扇贝属（螨：蜱科）蜱是专性食血节肢动物，构成了研究媒介与宿主相互作用的模型。唾液腺（SG）和粘固剂的化学成分或元素组为研究在蜱生物学中发挥关键作用的基于蛋白质的复杂多功能组织提供了相关信息。在本研究中，我们对从自然感染的狗中收集的血扇头蜱中的骨水泥锥体以及从不同喂养阶段的实验感染的兔子中收集的SG和R. bursa的骨水泥进行了特征分析。使用扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 结合能量色散 X 射线光谱 (EDS) 对元素组进行表征。结果表明，在水泥中鉴定出多达 14 种化学元素，并表明蜱种之间以及同一物种内 SG 和水泥之间的水泥元素组存在由蜱/宿主驱动的差异。通过仍未知的机制，蜱可能在进食过程中调节水泥元素组，以影响各种生物过程。尽管这些分析是初步的，但结果表明 N 是骨水泥元素组的关键成分，可能起源于 SG/唾液蛋白（即富含甘氨酸 (C ₂ H ₅ NO ₂ ) 的超家族成员蛋白；GRP）和其他蜱/宿主衍生成分（即NAPDH）。未来的研究应集中在蜱元素组及其功能含义上，以更好地了解水泥的结构和功能。