Publications by authors named "Newmar P Marliere"
The molecular bases of animal behaviour are intricate due to the pleiotropic nature of behaviour-modulating genes, which are often expressed across multiple tissues. The foraging gene (for) encodes a cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG), pivotal in regulating downstream target proteins through phosphorylation. In insects, for has been implicated in various behavioural contexts and physiological processes regarding searching for food.
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- Rhodnius prolixus is a key insect in studying Chagas disease and has had its genome sequenced, leading to research on how gene expression affects behavior and adaptation to its environment.
- The study utilized RNA sequencing to analyze gene expression in the brains of starved fifth instar nymphs, focusing on neuromodulatory genes related to neuropeptides, receptors, and neurotransmitters.
- The findings suggest that understanding these highly expressed genes can lead to new pest control strategies and highlight the need for further research on gene expression in specific brain areas.
Article Synopsis
- Trypanosoma rangeli is a protozoan that infects insects and mammals in Latin America, but it does not cause disease in humans and primarily affects the survival and reproduction of its insect hosts.
- Recent research showed that when triatomine bugs (Rhodnius prolixus) are infected with T. rangeli, they exhibit increased activity levels and can be more easily found outside their shelters, leading to higher predation rates.
- Although infected bugs don't transmit T. rangeli to predatory mice, the increase in their foraging behavior may enhance the chances of transmitting the parasite through bites to other hosts.
Triatomine bugs aggregate with conspecifics inside shelters during daylight hours. At dusk, they leave their refuges searching for hosts on which to blood feed. After finding a host, triatomines face the threat of being killed, because hosts often prey on them.
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- The study examined triatomine species, their bloodmeal sources, and Trypanosoma cruzi genotypes in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, focusing on rural areas across 23 municipalities.
- Triatoma brasiliensis was the most frequently captured species, found in 16 municipalities, and was infected with all three T. cruzi discrete typing units (DTUs): TcI, TcII, and TcIII, showing mixed infections in some cases.
- Rodent DNA was detected in triatomines with TcI and TcIII, while human and domestic animal DNA was found in both single and mixed infections, highlighting the complex interaction between triatomines and their mammalian hosts.
The triatomine bug Rhodnius prolixus is a main vector of Chagas disease, which affects several million people in Latin-America. These nocturnal insects spend most of their locomotory activity during the first hours of the scotophase searching for suitable hosts. In this study we used multivariate analysis to characterize spontaneous locomotory activity profiles presented by 5th instar nymphs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi - the causative agent of Chagas disease - gene expression control is mainly post-transcriptional, where RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play a central role, by controlling mRNA stability, distribution and translation. A large variety of RBPs are encoded in the T. cruzi genome, including the CCCH-type zinc finger (CCCH ZnF) protein family, which is characterized by the presence of the C-X-C-X-C-X-H (CCCH) motif.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, has a complex life cycle in which four distinct developmental forms alternate between the insect vector and the mammalian host. It is assumed that replicating epimastigotes present in the insect gut are not infective to mammalian host, a paradigm corroborated by the widely acknowledged fact that only this stage is susceptible to the complement system. In the present work, we establish a T.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: As a result of evolution, the biology of triatomines must have been significantly adapted to accommodate trypanosome infection in a complex network of vector-vertebrate-parasite interactions. Arthropod-borne parasites have probably developed mechanisms, largely still unknown, to exploit the vector-vertebrate host interactions to ensure their transmission to suitable hosts. Triatomines exhibit a strong negative phototaxis and nocturnal activity, believed to be important for insect survival against its predators.
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