Genetics of Mosquito Vector Competence

Abstract

SUMMARY Mosquito-borne diseases are responsible for significant human morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Efforts to control mosquito-borne diseases have been impeded, in part, by the development of drug-resistant parasites, insecticide-resistant mosquitoes, and environmental concerns over the application of insecticides. Therefore, there is a need to develop novel disease control strategies that can complement or replace existing control methods. One such strategy is to generate pathogen-resistant mosquitoes from those that are susceptible. To this end, efforts have focused on isolating and characterizing genes that influence mosquito vector competence. It has been known for over 70 years that there is a genetic basis for the susceptibility of mosquitoes to parasites, but until the advent of powerful molecular biological tools and protocols, it was difficult to assess the interactions of pathogens with their host tissues within the mosquito at a molecular level. Moreover, it has been only recently that the molecular mechanisms responsible for pathogen destruction, such as melanotic encapsulation and immune peptide production, have been investigated. The molecular characterization of genes that influence vector competence is becoming routine, and with the development of the Sindbis virus transducing system, potential antipathogen genes now can be introduced into the mosquito and their effect on parasite development can be assessed in vivo. With the recent successes in the field of mosquito germ line transformation, it seems likely that the generation of a pathogen-resistant mosquito population from a susceptible population soon will become a reality.

Site-specific selfish genes as tools for the control and genetic engineering of natural populations

“…Ribeiro & Kidwell 1994;Turelli & Hoffmann 1999;Beerntsen et al 2000;Ito et al 2002). As we have seen, engineered HEGs may be useful tools for such population genetic engineering.…”

“…Many such species have long been targets of population control, with varying degrees of success, but some species are still beyond control by current methods, and new approaches are required. Genetic methods of engineering or eradicating natural populations have been much discussed (Knipling 1979;Curtis 1985;Hastings 1994), most recently in the context of using transposable elements or bacterial symbionts to drive novel genes of interest into a population (Ribeiro & Kidwell 1994;Beerntsen et al 2000;Braig & Yan 2002). However, there are inherent difficulties with these proposals, in particular relating to the stability of the proposed constructs, and good reasons to think they may not work (Turelli & Hoffmann 1999;Braig & Yan 2002;Spielman et al 2002;and § 6, below).…”

Nyamuk: Peran Pola Gigit dan Pilihan Inang Dalam Kompetensi sebagai Vektor

“…Penyebaran penyakit seperti demam berdarah, malaria, filariasis limpatik, Japanese encephalitis dan chikungunya sangat bergantung pada kemampuan dan kompetensi nyamuk dalam mempertahankan benih penyakit yang bertumbuh dalam badannya. 1 Kenyataan bahwa jutaan orang di dunia hidup dalam bayangbayang terinfeksi oleh penyakit-penyakit yang ditularkan melalui nyamuk telah berlangsung sejak dahulu. [1][2][3][4] Kemajuan zaman dan teknologi memberi dimensi baru dalam upaya pencegahan dan pemutusan rantai penularan penyakit, diantaranya dengan penggunaan piranti lunak komputer dalam pemetaan jenis dan wilayah geografis habitat tempat hidup nyamuk.…”

“…1 Kenyataan bahwa jutaan orang di dunia hidup dalam bayangbayang terinfeksi oleh penyakit-penyakit yang ditularkan melalui nyamuk telah berlangsung sejak dahulu. [1][2][3][4] Kemajuan zaman dan teknologi memberi dimensi baru dalam upaya pencegahan dan pemutusan rantai penularan penyakit, diantaranya dengan penggunaan piranti lunak komputer dalam pemetaan jenis dan wilayah geografis habitat tempat hidup nyamuk. 4 Meski fenomena-fenomena baru dalam infeksi seperti strain yang resisten terhadap obat insektisida, man made breeding places atau jenis vektor baru juga bermunculan.…”

Physiological age and longevity of Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii Dyar Knab (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Atlantic Forest of Southern Brazil

“…"In practice, it is a complex interaction of several factors, including population density of vectors and hosts, frequency of feeding on a host, pathogen transfer competence, along with the probability of survival long enough to permit pathogen transmittance" (Beerntsen et al 2000).…”