Chemical Ecology of Animal and Human Pathogen Vectors in a Changing Global Climate

Abstract

Infectious diseases affecting livestock and human health that involve vector-borne pathogens are a global problem, unrestricted by borders or boundaries, which may be exacerbated by changing global climate. Thus, the availability of effective tools for control of pathogen vectors is of the utmost importance. The aim of this article is to review, selectively, current knowledge of the chemical ecology of pathogen vectors that affect livestock and human health in the developed and developing world, based on key note lectures presented in a symposium on "The Chemical Ecology of Disease Vectors" at the 25th Annual ISCE meeting in Neuchatel, Switzerland. The focus is on the deployment of semiochemicals for monitoring and control strategies, and discusses briefly future directions that such research should proceed along, bearing in mind the environmental challenges associated with climate change that we will face during the 21st century.

Sex Pheromones and Their Impact on Pest Management

“…It is now within our reach to facilitate the discovery of relevant chemical signals with emerging molecular tools. An odorant binding protein recently has been used in a "reverse chemical ecology" approach to select oviposition attractant candidate compounds in a mosquito (Leal et al 2008;Pickett et al 2010 this volume). The next step towards identifying ligands of odorant receptors is to express them in heterologous cell systems for a high-throughput screening of candidate chemicals, by imaging or electrophysiological techniques (Wetzel et al 2001;Hallem et al 2006;Kiely et al 2007).…”

Identification of Cattle-Derived Volatiles that Modulate the Behavioral Response of the Biting Midge Culicoides nubeculosus

“…Such traps may not attract all potential vector species equally, and may underestimate numbers of blood-seeking midges in the vicinity of animal hosts (Carpenter et al 2008;Gerry et al 2009; Viennet et al 2011). Following the successful use of traps baited with vertebrate host volatiles to monitor and control other blood feeding insects (Logan and Birkett 2007;Pickett et al 2010), similar technology has been trialled…”

Oviposition signals and their neuroethological correlates in the Culex pipiens complex

“…to the major categories of pesticides, such as organophosphates (Hemingway, 1982) and pyrethroids (Amin and Hemingway, 1989;Ben Cheikh et al, 1998;Chandre et al, 1999) necessitates exploring alternate methods of vector management. Recent advances in our understanding of mosquito physiology and behavior offer unique potential for manipulating the vectors of pathogens during their quest for a host, a mate, and an oviposition site via olfactory detection of semiochemicals (Pickett et al, 2010).…”

“…Targeting vector species offers a credible alternative in managing disease transmission; however, vector manipulation demands a clear understanding of mosquito habits and habitats (Pickett et al, 2010). Even though the first unequivocal evidence for the occurrence of an oviposition pheromone in any disease vectors was in the Culex mosquitoes, there are large gaps in our understanding of this sophisticated yet complex behavior resulting from the interaction of chemical (s) in the egg droplets and their sensory correlates in Culex species.…”