Project description:The impact of global climate change on the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases is the subject of extensive debate. The transmission of mosquito-borne viral diseases is particularly complex, with climatic variables directly affecting many parameters associated with the prevalence of disease vectors. While evidence shows that warmer temperatures often decrease the extrinsic incubation period of an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus), exposure to cooler temperatures often predisposes disease vector mosquitoes to higher infection rates. RNA interference pathways are essential to antiviral immunity in the mosquito; however, few experiments have explored the effects of temperature on the RNAi machinery. Total small RNAs (miRNAs, siRNAs, piRNAs, etc.) were isolated and sequenced from the heads of sensor strain Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, or from the whole bodies of CHIKV-infected Aedes albopictus mosquitoes 8 hours post infection. Mosquitoes were grown at 18C or 28C in replicates of 1 (Ae. aegypti) or 3 (Ae. albopictus).
Project description:Identification of genes associated with bendiocarb resistance. Mosquitoes collected as larvae from Nagongera and Kihihi, Uganda. Bendiocarb-resistant and unexposed female mosquitoes selected using standard WHO tube bioassays. RNA was extracted from pools of five individuals identified as An. gambiae s.s. Insecticide-susceptible mosquitoes from the Kisumu strain were included as controls. RNA hybridized in an interwoven loop design to compare four biological replicates each of resistant, unexposed, and laboratory mosquitoes.
Project description:We aimed at identifying the genes regulated by wounding in Anopheles gambiae. Gene expression was compared between wounded and non-wounded mosquitoes, 3h after wounding. Wounding was induced by the injection of dsLacZ using a thin glass needle.
Project description:Senescence is a biological phenomenon experienced by all living eukaryote organisms. Genome-wide gene expression associated with aging has been explored in model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, but this has not been well understood in African malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae. Gene expression profiling using DNA microarray allows for simultaneous study of changes in mRNA levels for thousands of genes. This study examined genome-wide gene expression during aging process in An. gambiae. The influence of blood feeding on gene expression was also examined. The data can be used to further our understanding of mosquito senescence and identify biomarkers for mosquito age grading. Transcriptional profiles of Anopheles gambiae female mosquitoes were determined at 1, 4, 10, 19 and 28 days post adult eclosion. Additionally mosquitoes that had access to blood meals were compared to those that were maintained with access to only water and sugar.
Project description:Resistance to pyrethroids, the only insecticide approved for bednets, threatens control of the major malaria vector, Anopheles funestus, in Malawi. To improve the management of such resistance countrywide, it is crucial to understand the dynamics and mechanisms driving resistance in the field. In this study the levels of insecticide resistance were determined across the highly endemic densely populated lake and southern agricultural area. Insecticide resistance to pyrethoids was assessed using standardized WHO bioassay methods and resistant mosquitoes were hybridized to susceptible mosquitoes. This microarray analysis revealed the key role of cytochrome P450 genes such as CYP6P9a, CYP6P9b and CYP6M7. However, a significant shift in the over-expression of these CYP450s was detected across a south/north transect, with CYP6M7 more highly over-transcribed in the two northern collection sites and the tandemly duplicated genes, CYP6P9a and CYP6P9b, more greatly over-transcribed in the south.
Project description:Anopheles gambiae isofemale families from Tororo, Uganda were assayed for resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin (1.5hr exposure). Resistant families were compared to susceptible families. A portion of each family was exposed to 0.05% lambda-cyhalothrin in order to determine the family phenotype. The families used for the array were of known phenotype but were themselves unexposed.
Project description:Many eukaryotic developmental and cell fate decisions are effected post-transcriptionally that mechanistically involve RNA binding proteins as regulators of translation of key mRNAs. In the unicellular eukaryote malaria parasite, Plasmodium, one of the most dramatic changes in cell morphology and function occurs during transmission between mosquito and human host. In the mosquito salivary glands, Plasmodium sporozoites are slender, motile and remain infectious for several weeks; only after transmission and liver cell invasion, does the parasite rapidly transform into a round, non-motile exo-erythrocytic form (EEF) that gives rise to thousands of infectious merozoites to be released into the blood stream. Here we demonstrate a Plasmodium homolog of the RNA binding protein, Pumilio, as a key regulator of the sporozoite to EEF transformation. In the absence of Pumilio-2 (Puf2) Plasmodium berghei sporozoites initiate early stage EEF development inside mosquito salivary glands with characteristic morphological changes; puf2- salivary gland sporozoites lose gliding motility, cell traversal ability and are less infective. Global expression profiling confirmed that transgenic parasites exhibit genome-wide transcriptional adaptations typical for Plasmodium intra-hepatic development. The data demonstrate that Puf2 is a key player in regulating developmental control, and imply that transformation of salivary gland-resident sporozoites into early liver stage parasites is regulated by a post-translational mechanism.