First record of the Asian malaria vector Anopheles stephensi and its possible role in the resurgence of malaria in Djibouti, Horn of Africa

Faulde, Michael; Rueda, Leopoldo M.; Khaireh, Bouh Abdi

doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2014.06.016

Cited by 169 publications

(167 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…To understand future intermingling of parasite genomes, current similarities and differences in the genetic makeup of Indian and Southeast Asian parasites are of particular significance. It is also conceivable that Indian parasites could be closely related to parasites from Africa, given the history of travels over the last eight centuries as well as more recent trade and population exchanges [20]. …”

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confidence: 99%

Distinct genomic architecture of Plasmodium falciparum populations from South Asia

Kumar

Mudeppa

Sharma

et al. 2016

Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology

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Previous whole genome comparisons of Plasmodium falciparum populations have not included collections from the Indian subcontinent, even though two million Indians contract malaria and about 50,000 die from the disease every year. Stratification of global parasites has revealed spatial relatedness of parasite genotypes on different continents. Here, genomic analysis was further improved to obtain country-level resolution by removing var genes and intergenic regions from distance calculations. P. falciparum genomes from India were found to be most closely related to each other. Their nearest neighbors were from Bangladesh and Myanmar, followed by Thailand. Samples from the rest of Southeast Asia, Africa and South America were increasingly more distant, demonstrating a high-resolution genomic-geographic continuum. Such genome stratification approaches will help monitor variations of malaria parasites within South Asia and future changes in parasite populations that may arise from in-country and cross-border migrations.

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confidence: 99%

Distinct genomic architecture of Plasmodium falciparum populations from South Asia

Kumar

Mudeppa

Sharma

et al. 2016

Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology

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“…stephensi indicates that An. stephensi may pose an even greater risk to human health in the future [6]. Of the three forms, type, mysorensis, and intermediate, the former is responsible for the majority, if not all, of urban malaria transmission across its range and accounts for approximately 12% of all transmission in India [7].…”

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confidence: 99%

Genome analysis of a major urban malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles stephensi

et al. 2014

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Background: Anopheles stephensi is the key vector of malaria throughout the Indian subcontinent and Middle East and an emerging model for molecular and genetic studies of mosquito-parasite interactions. The type form of the species is responsible for the majority of urban malaria transmission across its range. Results: Here, we report the genome sequence and annotation of the Indian strain of the type form of An. stephensi. The 221 Mb genome assembly represents more than 92% of the entire genome and was produced using a combination of 454, Illumina, and PacBio sequencing. Physical mapping assigned 62% of the genome onto chromosomes, enabling chromosome-based analysis. Comparisons between An. stephensi and An. gambiae reveal that the rate of gene order reshuffling on the X chromosome was three times higher than that on the autosomes. An. stephensi has more heterochromatin in pericentric regions but less repetitive DNA in chromosome arms than An. gambiae. We also identify a number of Y-chromosome contigs and BACs. Interspersed repeats constitute 7.1% of the assembled genome while LTR retrotransposons alone comprise more than 49% of the Y contigs. RNA-seq analyses provide new insights into mosquito innate immunity, development, and sexual dimorphism. Conclusions: The genome analysis described in this manuscript provides a resource and platform for fundamental and translational research into a major urban malaria vector. Chromosome-based investigations provide unique perspectives on Anopheles chromosome evolution. RNA-seq analysis and studies of immunity genes offer new insights into mosquito biology and mosquito-parasite interactions.

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“…stephensi is both an established and emerging malaria vector. It is estimated to be responsible for ∼12% of all transmission in India, mostly in urban settings, accounting for a total of ∼106,000 clinical cases in 2014 (3,(16)(17)(18), and also may be responsible for recent epidemic outbreaks in Africa (19). Laboratory strains of An.…”

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Highly efficient Cas9-mediated gene drive for population modification of the malaria vector mosquitoAnopheles stephensi

Gantz

Jasinskiene

Tatarenkova

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

894

957

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Genetic engineering technologies can be used both to create transgenic mosquitoes carrying antipathogen effector genes targeting human malaria parasites and to generate gene-drive systems capable of introgressing the genes throughout wild vector populations. We developed a highly effective autonomous Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-associated protein 9 (Cas9)-mediated gene-drive system in the Asian malaria vector Anopheles stephensi, adapted from the mutagenic chain reaction (MCR). This specific system results in progeny of males and females derived from transgenic males exhibiting a high frequency of germ-line gene conversion consistent with homology-directed repair (HDR). This system copies an ∼17-kb construct from its site of insertion to its homologous chromosome in a faithful, site-specific manner. Dual anti-Plasmodium falciparum effector genes, a marker gene, and the autonomous gene-drive components are introgressed into ∼99.5% of the progeny following outcrosses of transgenic lines to wild-type mosquitoes. The effector genes remain transcriptionally inducible upon blood feeding. In contrast to the efficient conversion in individuals expressing Cas9 only in the germ line, males and females derived from transgenic females, which are expected to have drive component molecules in the egg, produce progeny with a high frequency of mutations in the targeted genome sequence, resulting in near-Mendelian inheritance ratios of the transgene. Such mutant alleles result presumably from nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) events before the segregation of somatic and germ-line lineages early in development. These data support the design of this system to be active strictly within the germ line. Strains based on this technology could sustain control and elimination as part of the malaria eradication agenda.

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First record of the Asian malaria vector Anopheles stephensi and its possible role in the resurgence of malaria in Djibouti, Horn of Africa

Cited by 169 publications

References 15 publications

Distinct genomic architecture of Plasmodium falciparum populations from South Asia

Distinct genomic architecture of Plasmodium falciparum populations from South Asia

Genome analysis of a major urban malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles stephensi

Highly efficient Cas9-mediated gene drive for population modification of the malaria vector mosquitoAnopheles stephensi

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