scholarly journals Iron and Ferritin Deposition in the Ovarian Tissues of the Yellow Fever Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn L Geiser ◽  
Theresa N Thai ◽  
Maria B Love ◽  
Joy J Winzerling
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Light Chain ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Yellow Fever Mosquito ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Ferritin Heavy Chain ◽  
Essential Nutrient ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
And Storage

Abstract Dengue, yellow fever, and Zika are viruses transmitted by yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti [Linnaeus (Diptera: Culicidae)], to thousands of people each year. Mosquitoes transmit these viruses while consuming a blood meal that is required for oogenesis. Iron, an essential nutrient from the blood meal, is required for egg development. Mosquitoes receive a high iron load in the meal; although iron can be toxic, these animals have developed mechanisms for dealing with this load. Our previous research has shown iron from the blood meal is absorbed in the gut and transported by ferritin, the main iron transport and storage protein, to the ovaries. We now report the distribution of iron and ferritin in ovarian tissues before blood feeding and 24 and 72 h post-blood meal. Ovarian iron is observed in specific locations. Timing post-blood feeding influences the location and distribution of the ferritin heavy-chain homolog, light-chain homolog 1, and light-chain homolog 2 in ovaries. Understanding iron deposition in ovarian tissues is important to the potential use of interference in iron metabolism as a vector control strategy for reducing mosquito fecundity, decreasing mosquito populations, and thereby reducing transmission rates of vector-borne diseases.

scholarly journals The Fat Body Transcriptomes of the Yellow Fever Mosquito Aedes aegypti, Pre- and Post- Blood Meal

PLoS ONE ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. e22573 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Price ◽  
Vijayaraj Nagarajan ◽  
Alexander Churbanov ◽  
Peter Houde ◽  
Brook Milligan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Fat Body ◽  
Yellow Fever Mosquito

scholarly journals Time to Micromanage the Pathogen-Host-Vector Interface: Considerations for Vaccine Development

Vaccines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica E. Manning ◽  
Tineke Cantaert
Keyword(s):  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Host Pathogen Interactions ◽  
Current Increase ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Vector Borne Disease ◽  
Host Pathogen ◽  
Added Benefit ◽  
Vector Borne

The current increase in vector-borne disease worldwide necessitates novel approaches to vaccine development targeted to pathogens delivered by blood-feeding arthropod vectors into the host skin. A concept that is gaining traction in recent years is the contribution of the vector or vector-derived components, like salivary proteins, to host-pathogen interactions. Indeed, the triad of vector-host-pathogen interactions in the skin microenvironment can influence host innate and adaptive responses alike, providing an advantage to the pathogen to establish infection. A better understanding of this “bite site” microenvironment, along with how host and vector local microbiomes immunomodulate responses to pathogens, is required for future vaccines for vector-borne diseases. Microneedle administration of such vaccines may more closely mimic vector deposition of pathogen and saliva into the skin with the added benefit of near painless vaccine delivery. Focusing on the ‘micro’–from microenvironments to microbiomes to microneedles–may yield an improved generation of vector-borne disease vaccines in today’s increasingly complex world.

scholarly journals Evolutionary transition from blood feeding to obligate nonbiting in a mosquito

2017 ◽  
Vol 115 (5) ◽  
pp. 1009-1014 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Bradshaw ◽  
Joshua Burkhart ◽  
John K. Colbourne ◽  
Rudyard Borowczak ◽  
Jacqueline Lopez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Evolutionary Transition ◽  
Genetic Changes ◽  
Wyeomyia Smithii ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Differential Gene ◽  
Vector Borne

The spread of blood-borne pathogens by mosquitoes relies on their taking a blood meal; if there is no bite, there is no disease transmission. Although many species of mosquitoes never take a blood meal, identifying genes that distinguish blood feeding from obligate nonbiting is hampered by the fact that these different lifestyles occur in separate, genetically incompatible species. There is, however, one unique extant species with populations that share a common genetic background but blood feed in one region and are obligate nonbiters in the rest of their range: Wyeomyia smithii. Contemporary blood-feeding and obligate nonbiting populations represent end points of divergence between fully interfertile southern and northern populations. This divergence has undoubtedly resulted in genetic changes that are unrelated to blood feeding, and the challenge is to winnow out the unrelated genetic factors to identify those related specifically to the evolutionary transition from blood feeding to obligate nonbiting. Herein, we determine differential gene expression resulting from directional selection on blood feeding within a polymorphic population to isolate genetic differences between blood feeding and obligate nonbiting. We show that the evolution of nonbiting has resulted in a greatly reduced metabolic investment compared with biting populations, a greater reliance on opportunistic metabolic pathways, and greater reliance on visual rather than olfactory sensory input. W. smithii provides a unique starting point to determine if there are universal nonbiting genes in mosquitoes that could be manipulated as a means to control vector-borne disease.

scholarly journals BiteOscope: an open platform to study mosquito blood-feeding behavior

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix JH Hol ◽  
Louis Lambrechts ◽  
Manu Prakash
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Anopheles Coluzzii ◽  
Open Platform ◽  
Essential Nutrient ◽  
Resolution Imaging ◽  
The Common ◽  
New Perspective

AbstractFemale mosquitoes need a blood meal to reproduce, and in obtaining this essential nutrient they transmit deadly pathogens. Although crucial for the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, our understanding of skin exploration, probing, and engorgement, is limited due to a lack of quantitative tools. Indeed, studies often expose human subjects to assess biting behavior. Here, we present the biteOscope, a device that attracts mosquitoes to a host mimic which they bite to obtain an artificial blood meal. The host mimic is transparent, allowing high-resolution imaging of the feeding mosquito. Using machine learning we extract detailed behavioral statistics describing the locomotion, pose, biting, and feeding dynamics of Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, Anopheles stephensi, and Anopheles coluzzii. In addition to characterizing behavioral patterns, we discover that the common insect repellent DEET repels Anopheles coluzzii upon contact with their legs. The biteOscope provides a new perspective on mosquito blood feeding, enabling high-throughput quantitative characterization of the effects physiological and environmental factors have on this lethal behavior.

scholarly journals Borrelia infection in rodent host has dramatic effects on the microbiome of ticks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phineas T. Hamilton ◽  
Elodie Maluenda ◽  
Anouk Sarr ◽  
Alessandro Belli ◽  
Georgia Hurry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Bacterial Community Composition ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Rodent Host ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Bacterial Microbiome ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Scale Experiment ◽  
Tick Microbiome

AbstractBackgroundVector-borne diseases remain major causes of human morbidity and mortality. It is increasingly recognized that the community of microbes inhabiting arthropods can strongly affect their vector competence, but the role of the tick microbiome in Borrelia transmission – the cause of Lyme disease – remains unclear.ResultsHere, we use a large-scale experiment to clarify the reciprocal interactions between Borrelia afzelii and the microbiome of Ixodes ricinus, its primary vector. In contrast to other reports, we find that depletion of the bacterial microbiome in larval ticks has no effect on their subsequent acquisition of B. afzelii during blood feeding on infected mice. Rather, exposure to B. afzelii-infected hosts drives pervasive changes to the tick microbiome, decreasing overall bacterial abundance, shifting bacterial community composition, and increasing bacterial diversity. These effects appear to be independent of the acquisition of B. afzelii by ticks, suggesting they are mediated by physiological or immunological aspects of B. afzelii infection in the rodent host.ConclusionsManipulation of the microbiome of I. ricinus larvae had no effect on their ability to acquire B. afzelii. In contrast, B. afzelii infection in the mouse had dramatic effects on the composition of the gut microbiome in I. ricinus nymphs. Our study demonstrates that vector-borne infections in the vertebrate host shape the microbiome of the arthropod vector.

scholarly journals Arbovirus Infections: the Challenges of Controlling an Ever-Present Enemy

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 322-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomohiko Takasaki ◽  
◽  
Akira Kotaki ◽  
Chang-Kweng Lim ◽  
Shigeru Tajima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Dengue Fever ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Japanese Encephalitis ◽  
Rift Valley ◽  
Rift Valley Fever ◽  
West Nile Fever ◽  
Valley Fever ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Vector Borne

Arthropod-borne infections carried by mosquitoes and ticks are difficult to eradicate, once rooted, and have frequently caused wide-area epidemics such as dengue fever, West Nile fever, chikungunya fever, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and Rift Valley fever. Factors such as global warming and overpopulation have aggravated urban epidemics caused by dengue and chikungunya viruses. Measures against arthropods have their limitations, however, so nonepidemic areas must be protected against invasion by vector-borne diseases through quarantine, education and effective vaccination.

scholarly journals Knockout of juvenile hormone receptor, Methoprene-tolerant, induces black larval phenotype in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (43) ◽  
pp. 21501-21507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guan-Heng Zhu ◽  
Yaoyu Jiao ◽  
Shankar C. R. R. Chereddy ◽  
Mi Young Noh ◽  
Subba Reddy Palli
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Larval Development ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Mode Of Action ◽  
Human Pathogens ◽  
Yellow Fever Mosquito ◽  
Guide Rna ◽  
Larval Stages ◽  
Blood Meal Digestion

The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, vectors human pathogens. Juvenile hormones (JH) control almost every aspect of an insect’s life, and JH analogs are currently used to control mosquito larvae. Since RNA interference does not work efficiently during the larval stages of this insect, JH regulation of larval development and mode of action of JH analogs are not well studied. To overcome this limitation, we used a multiple single guide RNA-based CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing method to knockout the methoprene-tolerant (Met) gene coding for a JH receptor. The Met knockout larvae exhibited a black larval phenotype during the L3 (third instar larvae) and L4 (fourth instar larvae) stages and died before pupation. However, Met knockout did not affect embryonic development or the L1 and L2 stages. Microscopy studies revealed the precocious synthesis of a dark pupal cuticle during the L3 and L4 stages. Gene expression analysis showed that Krüppel homolog 1, a key transcription factor in JH action, was down-regulated, but genes coding for proteins involved in melanization, pupal and adult cuticle synthesis, and blood meal digestion in adults were up-regulated in L4 Met mutants. These data suggest that, during the L3 and L4 stages, Met mediates JH suppression of pupal/adult genes involved in the synthesis and melanization of the cuticle and blood meal digestion. These results help to advance our knowledge of JH regulation of larval development and the mode of action of JH analogs in Ae. aegypti.

Regulation of the ferritin heavy-chain homologue gene in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti

2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Q.-D. Pham ◽  
P. L. Douglass ◽  
C. A. Chavez ◽  
J. J. Shaffer
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Heavy Chain ◽  
Yellow Fever Mosquito ◽  
Ferritin Heavy Chain

scholarly journals Yellow fever and dengue: a threat to Europe?

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Reiter
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Aedes Albopictus ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
History Of ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Broad Overview

The introduction and rapidly expanding range of Aedes albopictus in Europe is an iconic example of the growing risk of the globalisation of vectors and vector-borne diseases. The history of yellow fever and dengue in temperate regions confirms that transmission of both diseases could recur, particularly if Ae. aegypti, a more effective vector, were to be re-introduced. The article is a broad overview of the natural history and epidemiology of both diseases in the context of these risks.

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