To study the indoor behavior of Anopheles gambiae populations in a temperate climate, we have devised a walk-in mesocosm, built within a greenhouse. The structure provides conditions more natural than laboratory cages, including sufficient room for swarming and for flight between resting sites, sugar-bearing plants, a human host, and an oviposition site. These activities impose energy demands closer to those encountered in the field. The structure also has predators, fluctuating temperatures, natural daylight, and an evening crepuscular period. Most important, its resting sites comprise a bank of tubes that can be inspected or removed individually to obtain, at regular time intervals, random representative samples of an experimental population while all individuals are inactive. Samples from aging cohorts of mosquitoes, released at emergence, can yield information on behavioral sequences, mate competition, reproductive success, and survival under different nutritional regimes.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.2987/08-5885.1 | DOI Listing |
Pathogens
January 2025
Department of Entomology; The Global Change Center at Virginia Tech; and the Center for Emerging Zoonotic & Arthropod-Borne Pathogens (CeZAP), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an emerging mosquito-borne arbovirus of One Health importance that caused two large outbreaks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2022. Information on vector species with a role in RVFV eco-epidemiology in Rwanda is scarce. Here we sought to identify potential mosquito vectors of RVFV in Rwanda, their distribution and abundance, as well as their infection status.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecules
January 2025
School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Malaria, caused by species and transmitted by mosquitoes, continues to pose a significant global health threat. Pipecolisporin, a cyclic hexapeptide isolated from , has emerged as a promising antimalarial candidate due to its potent biological activity and stability. This study explores the synthesis, antimalarial activity, and computational studies of pipecolisporin, aiming to better understand its therapeutic potential.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInsects
December 2024
Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences Department, Ifakara Health Institute, Morogoro P.O. Box 53, Tanzania.
Interspecific competition between mosquito larvae may affects adult vectorial capacity, potentially reducing disease transmission. It also influences population dynamics, and cannibalistic and predatory behaviors. However, knowledge of interspecific competition between and species is limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomolecules
January 2025
Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
Pantothenate (Pan), or vitamin B5, is essential for the synthesis of co-enzyme A (CoA), acetyl-CoA, and numerous downstream physiological processes. We previously demonstrated that Pan is not only essential for mosquito survival, but also for the development of malaria parasites within the mosquito, suggesting that targeting Pan and CoA biosynthesis may be a novel approach for malaria control. However, little is known about how Pan is acquired and mobilized within the mosquito.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Center for Bioinformatics, Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Gene drives are alleles that can bias the inheritance of specific traits in target populations for the purpose of modification or suppression. Here, we construct a homing suppression drive in the major urban malaria vector Anopheles stephensi targeting the female-specific exon of doublesex, incorporating two gRNAs and a nanos-Cas9 to reduce functional resistance and improve female heterozygote fitness. Our results show that the drive was recessive sterile in both females and males, with various intersex phenotypes in drive homozygotes.
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