Abstract
Mosquitoes are among the most important vectors of human infectious diseases. These insects locate and identify suitable hosts using olfactory cues. In the present proposal, I intend to build on available data from physiological, behavioral and molecular studies on Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus and Anopheles gambiae, to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the factors that establish their vectorial capacity. The primary aim of this project is to assess the specificity of odor recognition by chemoreceptors of these species through reconstituted Sf9 cell-based OR/iGluR expression platforms. In the initial screen, conserved chemoreceptors will be screened as I expect that these reflect common biological constraints among the three species. The second screen will include female specific chemoreceptors, as I expect that these are involved in mechanisms regulating female-specific, olfactory mediated, behaviors. This approach to dissecting mosquito vector olfactory function should yield results that will enhance our understanding of the mechanisms that control odor recognition in mosquitoes. Genes that may be linked to female-specific olfactory mediated behaviors will then be used in HEK cell-based receptor expression platforms to deorphanize the receptors and to identify putative disruptors of the host seeking behavior of female mosquitoes. The effectiveness of the putative disruptors will then be established by in vivo electrophysiological and behavioral assays.
Sweden