From macro to micro: De novo genomes of Aedes mosquitoes enable comparative genomics among close and distant relatives.

Unlabelled: The yellow fever mosquito ( ) is an organism of high medical importance because it is the primary vector for diseases such as yellow fever, Zika, dengue, and chikungunya. Its medical importance has made it a subject of numerous efforts to understand their biology. One such effort, was the development of a high-quality reference genome (AaegL5).

Widespread geographic distribution of filarioid nematodes in caribou ( sspp.) in Canada.

The caribou ( sspp.) is a keystone wildlife species in northern ecosystems that plays a central role in the culture, spirituality and food security of Indigenous People. The Arctic is currently experiencing an unprecedented rate of climate change, including warming temperatures and altered patterns of precipitation.

Trichuriasis in Human Patients from Côte d'Ivoire Caused by Novel Trichuris incognita Species with Low Sensitivity to Albendazole/Ivermectin Combination Treatment.

Albendazole/ivermectin combination therapy is a promising alternative to benzimidazole monotherapy alone for Trichuris trichiura control. We used fecal DNA metabarcoding to genetically characterize Trichuris spp. populations in patient samples from Côte d'Ivoire showing lower (egg reduction rate <70%) albendazole/ivermectin sensitivity than those from Laos and Tanzania (egg reduction rates >98%).

First record of Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) in Alberta: expanding distributions and ecotype patterns in a western Canadian province.

Culex pipiens is an invasive mosquito found in temperate regions globally. It is considered among the most important disease vectors worldwide and is responsible for the transmission of a range of pathogens, including West Nile virus, avian malaria, Saint Louis encephalitis, and filarial worms. Throughout its northern temperate range, this mosquito is found in 2 ecotypes: form pipiens and form molestus.

Robustness in population-structure and demographic-inference results derived from the Aedes aegypti genotyping chip and whole-genome sequencing data.

The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of many human arboviruses such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika, which affect millions of people worldwide. Population genetic studies on this mosquito have been important in understanding its invasion pathways and success as a vector of human disease. The Axiom aegypti1 SNP chip was developed from a sample of geographically diverse A.

A New Pipeline for Removing Paralogs in Target Enrichment Data.

Target enrichment (such as Hyb-Seq) is a well-established high throughput sequencing method that has been increasingly used for phylogenomic studies. Unfortunately, current widely used pipelines for analysis of target enrichment data do not have a vigorous procedure to remove paralogs in target enrichment data. In this study, we develop a pipeline we call Putative Paralogs Detection (PPD) to better address putative paralogs from enrichment data.

From e-voucher to genomic data: Preserving archive specimens as demonstrated with medically important mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) and kissing bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae).

Scientific collections such as the U.S. National Museum (USNM) are critical to filling knowledge gaps in molecular systematics studies.

Field Evidence of Mosquito Population Regulation by a Gregarine Parasite.

Although parasites are by definition costly to their host, demonstrating that a parasite is regulating its host abundance in the field can be difficult. Here we present an example of a gregarine parasite, Ascogregarina taiwanensis Lien and Levine (Apicomplexa: Lecudinidae), regulating its mosquito host, Aedes albopictus Skuse (Diptera: Culicidae), in Bermuda. We sampled larvae from container habitats over 2 yr, assessed parasite prevalence, and estimated host abundance from egg counts obtained in neighboring ovitraps.

Genetic evidence for the origin of Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, in the southwestern Indian Ocean.

Aedes aegypti is among the best-studied mosquitoes due to its critical role as a vector of human pathogens and ease of laboratory rearing. Until now, this species was thought to have originated in continental Africa, and subsequently colonized much of the world following the establishment of global trade routes. However, populations of this mosquito on the islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean (SWIO), where the species occurs with its nearest relatives referred to as the Aegypti Group, have received little study.

Genetic diversity of laboratory strains and implications for research: The case of Aedes aegypti.

The yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti), is the primary vector of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya fever, among other arboviral diseases. It is also a popular laboratory model in vector biology due to its ease of rearing and manipulation in the lab. Established laboratory strains have been used worldwide in thousands of studies for decades.

First Record of From Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands.

The first report of on Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands (USVI), is confirmed. Adult and larval specimens were collected in 2018 and 2019 through adult surveillance and larval collections. Specimens were identified by microscopic methods, and a representative specimen was confirmed by DNA sequencing (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I).

The Prediapause Stage of and the Evolution of Embryonic Diapause in Aedini.

The genus is well known for its desiccation-resistant eggs, which frequently serve as an overwintering mechanism through diapause. Despite this, relatively little is known about the diapause and overwintering biology of most species including , an invasive mosquito in the United States. The importance of this mosquito in disease systems like La Crosse virus remain uncertain.

Structural and wetting properties of nature's finest silks (order Embioptera).

Insects from the order Embioptera (webspinners) spin silk fibres which are less than 200 nm in diameter. In this work, we characterized and compared the diameters of single silk fibres from nine species-, , , , , , , and . Silk from seven of these species have not been previously quantified.

Population genomics of Culiseta melanura, the principal vector of Eastern equine encephalitis virus in the United States.

Background: Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) (Togaviridae, Alphavirus) is a highly pathogenic mosquito-borne arbovirus that circulates in an enzootic cycle involving Culiseta melanura mosquitoes and wild Passeriformes birds in freshwater swamp habitats. Recently, the northeastern United States has experienced an intensification of virus activity with increased human involvement and northward expansion into new regions. In addition to its principal role in enzootic transmission of EEE virus among avian hosts, recent studies on the blood-feeding behavior of Cs.

Evolutionary dynamics of host specialization in wood-decay fungi.

Background: The majority of wood decomposing fungi are mushroom-forming Agaricomycetes, which exhibit two main modes of plant cell wall decomposition: white rot, in which all plant cell wall components are degraded, including lignin, and brown rot, in which lignin is modified but not appreciably removed. Previous studies suggested that brown rot fungi tend to be specialists of gymnosperm hosts and that brown rot promotes gymnosperm specialization. However, these hypotheses were based on analyses of limited datasets of Agaricomycetes.

From ground pools to treeholes: convergent evolution of habitat and phenotype in Aedes mosquitoes.

Background: Invasive mosquito species are responsible for millions of vector-borne disease cases annually. The global invasive success of Aedes mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus has relied on the human transport of immature stages in container habitats. However, despite the importance of these mosquitoes and this ecological specialization to their widespread dispersal, evolution of habitat specialization in this group has remained largely unstudied.

Differential response to mosquito host sex and parasite dosage suggest mixed dispersal strategies in the parasite Ascogregarina taiwanensis.

Mixed dispersal strategies are a form of bet hedging in which a species or population utilizes different dispersal strategies dependent upon biotic or abiotic conditions. Here we provide an example of a mixed dispersal strategy in the Aedes albopictus / Ascogregarina taiwanensis host/parasite system, wherein upon host emergence, the gregarine parasite is either carried with an adult mosquito leaving the larval habitat, or released back into the larval habitat. We show that the parasite invests a larger proportion of its dispersing (oocyst) life stage into adult female mosquitoes as opposed to adult male mosquitoes at low parasite exposure levels.

The First Evidence of Nanism in Ixodes (Ixodes) scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), Found Parasitizing a Human Host.

Ixodes scapularis Say 1821, the primary vector of several human pathogens in the northeastern and upper Midwestern United States, has considerable genetic and morphological variation throughout its range. Recently, developmental or teratological abnormalities have been observed in this species for the first time, further complicating morphological identification. Here, we report the first evidence of nanism (dwarfism) in I.

Simulated rRNA/DNA Ratios Show Potential To Misclassify Active Populations as Dormant.

The use of rRNA/DNA ratios derived from surveys of rRNA sequences in RNA and DNA extracts is an appealing but poorly validated approach to infer the activity status of environmental microbes. To improve the interpretation of rRNA/DNA ratios, we performed simulations to investigate the effects of community structure, rRNA amplification, and sampling depth on the accuracy of rRNA/DNA ratios in classifying bacterial populations as "active" or "dormant." Community structure was an insignificant factor.

A parasite's modification of host behavior reduces predation on its host.

Parasite modification of host behavior is common, and the literature is dominated by demonstrations of enhanced predation on parasitized prey resulting in transmission of parasites to their next host. We present a case in which predation on parasitized prey is reduced. Despite theoretical modeling suggesting that this phenomenon should be common, it has been reported in only a few host-parasite-predator systems.

Copy number variation contributes to cryptic genetic variation in outbreak lineages of Cryptococcus gattii from the North American Pacific Northwest.

Background: Copy number variants (CNVs) are a class of structural variants (SVs) and are defined as fragments of DNA that are present at variable copy number in comparison with a reference genome. Recent advances in bioinformatics methodologies and sequencing technologies have enabled the high-resolution quantification of genome-wide CNVs. In pathogenic fungi SVs have been shown to alter gene expression, influence host specificity, and drive fungicide resistance, but little attention has focused specifically on CNVs.

Sexual harassment and feeding inhibition between two invasive dengue vectors.

Two invasive mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, have been interacting during the course of a rapid range expansion by A. albopictus. We investigated the potential for interspecific feeding interference by male mosquitoes interacting with females within and between these species.

Life cycle completion of parasite Ascogregarina taiwanensis (Apicomplexa: Lecudinidae) in non-native host Ochlerotatus japonicus (Diptera: Culicidae).

Ascogregarina taiwanensis (Lien and Levine), a protist gut parasite of Aedes albopictus (Skuse), is not known to complete its life cycle within the potential competitor species, Ochlerotatus japonicus (Theobald). In a laboratory cross infection study we demonstrated that A. taiwanensis completed its life cycle within Oc.