The mitogen-activated protein kinome from Anopheles gambiae: identification, phylogeny and functional characterization of the ERK, JNK and p38 MAP kinases.

Background: Anopheles gambiae is the primary mosquito vector of human malaria parasites in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, three innate immune signaling pathways, including the nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB-dependent Toll and immune deficient (IMD) pathways and the Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (Jak-STAT) pathway, have been extensively characterized in An. gambiae.

Identification of three single nucleotide polymorphisms in Anopheles gambiae immune signaling genes that are associated with natural Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Background: Laboratory studies have demonstrated that a variety of immune signaling pathways regulate malaria parasite infection in Anopheles gambiae, the primary vector species in Africa.

Methods: To begin to understand the importance of these associations under natural conditions, an association mapping approach was adopted to determine whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in selected immune signaling genes in A. gambiae collected in Mali were associated with the phenotype of Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Metabolic pathways in Anopheles stephensi mitochondria.

No studies have been performed on the mitochondria of malaria vector mosquitoes. This information would be valuable in understanding mosquito aging and detoxification of insecticides, two parameters that have a significant impact on malaria parasite transmission in endemic regions. In the present study, we report the analyses of respiration and oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria of cultured cells [ASE (Anopheles stephensi Mos.