Biosensors to Monitor Water Quality Utilizing Insect Odorant-Binding Proteins as Detector Elements.

In the developing world, the identification of clean, potable water continues to pose a pervasive challenge, and waterborne diseases due to fecal contamination of water supplies significantly threaten public health. The ability to efficiently monitor local water supplies is key to water safety, yet no low-cost, reliable method exists to detect contamination quickly. We developed an in vitro assay utilizing an odorant-binding protein (OBP), AgamOBP1, from the mosquito, , to test for the presence of a characteristic metabolite, indole, from harmful coliform bacteria.

The co-expression pattern of odorant binding proteins and olfactory receptors identify distinct trichoid sensilla on the antenna of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae.

The initial steps of odorant recognition in the insect olfactory system involve odorant binding proteins (OBPs) and odorant receptors (ORs). While large families of OBPs have been identified in the malaria vector A. gambiae, little is known about their expression pattern in the numerous sensory hairs of the female antenna.

The Anopheles gambiae odorant binding protein 1 (AgamOBP1) mediates indole recognition in the antennae of female mosquitoes.

Haematophagous insects are frequently carriers of parasitic diseases, including malaria. The mosquito Anopheles gambiae is the major vector of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa and is thus responsible for thousands of deaths daily. Although the role of olfaction in A.

Genomics spawns novel approaches to mosquito control.

In spite of advances in medicine and public health, malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases are on the rise worldwide. Although vaccines, genetically modified mosquitoes and safer insecticides are under development, herein we examine a promising new approach to malaria control through better repellents. Current repellents, usually based on DEET, inhibit host finding by impeding insect olfaction, but have significant drawbacks.

Control of the developmental timer forDrosophila pupariation.

In the insectDrosophila, formation of the puparium marks the onset of metamorphosis and serves as a useful marker for developmental progress. The cells of the adult remain diploid and divide during the larval stage while the larval cells become polytene and do not divide. We use a high dose of gamma-irradiation (10 krad) to selectively delete the imaginal lineage from the developing larvae ofDrosophila melanogaster.

Alterations in the cell surface proteins of Drosophila during morphogenesis.

Unevaginated and evaginated Drosophila imaginal discs were surface-labeled with I. Relative labeling was greater in eleven peptides and lower in three peptides of evaginated discs compared to unevaginated discs. These results are compared to the effects of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HOE) on metabolic labeling of membrane proteins fractionated from imaginal discs, and on cell surface labeling of a hormone-responsive Drosophila tissue culture line.