Impacts of fluorescent powders on survival of different age cohorts, blood-feeding success, and tethered flight speed of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) females

Salivary gland homogenates and oil-induced saliva of the mosquito Aedes aegypti dilate the rabbit aortic ring and contract the guinea pig ileum. The vasodilatory activity is endothelium-dependent, heat-stable, sensitive to both trypsin and chymotrypsin treatments, and both smooth muscle activities cross-desensitize to the tachykinin peptide substance P. Both bioactivities co-elute when salivary gland homogenates are fractionated by reversed-phase HPLC. Molecular sieving chromatography indicates a relative molecular mass of 1400. A monoclonal antibody specific to the carboxy terminal region of tachykinins reacts with material in the posterior part of the central lobe of paraformaldehyde-fixed salivary glands. The presence of a vasodilatory peptide of the tachykinin family in the salivary glands of A. aegypti is proposed and its role in blood feeding is discussed.

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Confocal Analysis of the Distribution and Persistence of Sindbis Virus (TaV-GFP) Infection in Midguts of Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes

Microscopy and Microanalysis ◽

10.1017/s1431927620001270 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 267-274

Author(s):

Jason J. Saredy ◽

Florence Y. Chim ◽

Zoë L. Lyski ◽

Yani P. Ahearn ◽

Doria F. Bowers

Keyword(s):

Aedes Aegypti ◽

Sindbis Virus ◽

Fluorescent Protein ◽

Blood Feeding ◽

Target Tissue ◽

Secondary Target ◽

Posterior Midgut ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Green Fluorescent ◽

Global Threat

AbstractBiological transmission of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) to vertebrate hosts by hematophagous insects poses a global threat because such arboviruses can result in a range of serious public health infectious diseases. Sindbis virus (SINV), the prototype Alphavirus, was used to track infections in the posterior midgut (PMG) of Aedes aegypti adult mosquitoes. Females were fed viremic blood containing a virus reporter, SINV [Thosea asigna virus-green fluorescent protein (TaV-GFP)], that leaves a fluorescent signal in infected cells. We assessed whole-mount PMGs to identify primary foci, secondary target tissues, distribution, and virus persistence. Following a viremic blood meal, PMGs were dissected and analyzed at various days of post blood-feeding. We report that virus foci indicated by GFP in midgut epithelial cells resulted in a 9.8% PMG infection and a 10.8% dissemination from these infected guts. The number of virus foci ranged from 1 to 3 per individual PMG and was more prevalent in the PMG-middle > PMG-frontal > PMG-caudal regions. SINV TaV-GFP was first observed in the PMG (primary target tissue) at 3 days post blood-feeding, was sequestered in circumscribed foci, replicated in PMG peristaltic muscles (secondary target tissue) following dissemination, and GFP was observed to persist in PMGs for 30 days postinfection.

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Sex before or after blood feeding: Mating activities of Aedes aegypti males under conditions of different densities and female blood feeding opportunities

Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology ◽

10.1016/j.aspen.2018.12.025 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 274-280 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Hamady Dieng ◽

Tomomitsu Satho ◽

Fatimah Abang ◽

Erida Wydiamala ◽

Nur Faeza Abu Kassim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Aedes Aegypti ◽

Blood Feeding

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Human Blood Feeding by Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Florida Keys and a Review of the Literature

Journal of Medical Entomology ◽

10.1093/jme/tjaa083 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 57 (5) ◽

pp. 1640-1647

Author(s):

Catherine A Pruszynski ◽

Tanise Stenn ◽

Carolina Acevedo ◽

Andrea L Leal ◽

Nathan D Burkett-Cadena

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Aedes Aegypti ◽

Human Blood ◽

Florida Keys ◽

Blood Feeding ◽

The United States ◽

High Rate ◽

Surveillance Program ◽

Key West ◽

Local Transmission

Abstract Aedes aegypti L. is considered to have a proclivity for feeding on human blood even when other hosts are available. However, few studies have demonstrated host use by this mosquito in the continental United States, where local transmission of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya viruses has been recently documented. This study investigated the bloodmeal sources of female Ae. aegypti in the subtropical city of Key West and the surrounding county in Florida with the goal of identifying preferred hosts. Blood-engorged Ae. aegypti mosquitoes were collected from BG Sentinel traps used as part of a routine surveillance program in the Florida Keys (Monroe County, Florida). Bloodmeal samples were analyzed using PCR assays, sequencing, and comparison with reference sequences in GenBank. Aedes aegypti females from Key West fed predominantly on humans (79.6%) and did not differ statistically from females collected from the rest of the Florida Keys (69.5%). Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae), considered a host generalist, was collected and analyzed from the same sites for comparative purposes. Females of Cx. quinquefasciatus fed predominantly (70.7%) on birds and nonhuman mammals in the Florida Keys, corroborating the validity of molecular assay breadth and demonstrating that given the same group of available hosts Ae. aegypti selects humans. Our results indicated that Ae. aegypti has a high rate of human-biting in a subtropical area within the United States, supporting its role in recent local transmission of dengue and other viruses.

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