Culex mosquitoes are a global vector for multiple human and animal diseases, including West Nile virus, lymphatic filariasis, and avian malaria, posing a constant threat to public health, livestock, companion animals, and endangered birds. While rising insecticide resistance has threatened the control of Culex mosquitoes, advances in CRISPR genome-editing tools have fostered the development of alternative genetic strategies such as gene drive systems to fight disease vectors. However, though gene-drive technology has quickly progressed in other mosquitoes, advances have been lacking in Culex. Here, we develop a Culex-specific Cas9/gRNA expression toolkit and use site-directed homology-based transgenesis to generate and validate a Culex quinquefasciatus Cas9-expressing line. We show that gRNA scaffold variants improve transgenesis efficiency in both Culex quinquefasciatus and Drosophila melanogaster and boost gene-drive performance in the fruit fly. These findings support future technology development to control Culex mosquitoes and provide valuable insight for improving these tools in other species.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23239-0 | DOI Listing |
J Med Entomol
December 2024
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
December 2024
Institute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Free University Berlin, Humboldt-University Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
The genus Alphavirus harbors arboviruses of great concern, such as the Chikungunya virus and the equine encephalitis viruses. Transmission of pathogenic alphaviruses by mosquitoes could be influenced by insect-specific alphaviruses such as Eilat virus (EILV). However, insect-specific alphaviruses are rarely found in wild mosquitoes and only a few have been described in the literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Ist Super Sanita
December 2024
Istituto di Ingegneria del Mare Sezione di Acustica e Sensoristica O.M. Corbino, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy.
Introduction: Mosquitoes represent a way of spreading infectious diseases, as vectors of pathogens. Many types of ultrasonic devices have recently been promoted as effective and suitable alternatives to the use of biocides known as toxic to humans and environment.
Materials And Methods: Four ultrasonic mosquito repellers have been analysed and tested on females of two species, Culex pipiens and Aedes albopictus, in laboratory conditions.
Parasit Vectors
December 2024
School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P.O.BOX 447, Arusha, Tanzania.
Background: Increased global trade, while beneficial economically, can also increase the spread of vector-borne diseases, particularly those transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes spreading via trade routes. Given the heightened trade-induced activity at ports of entry, it is particularly crucial to assess the risk of mosquito-borne diseases in these settings. This study compared the risks of Aedes-borne disease in and around the eastern Tanzanian seaport of Tanga.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasit Vectors
December 2024
IRTA. Programa de Sanitat Animal. Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain.
Background: The age distribution of a mosquito population is a major determinant of its vectorial capacity. To contribute to disease transmission, a competent mosquito vector, carrying a pathogen, must live longer than the extrinsic incubation period of that pathogen to enable transmission to a new host. As such, determining the age of female mosquitoes is of significant interest for vector-borne diseases surveillance and control programs.
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