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Frontiers in Genetics 2020The principles and function of chromatin and nuclear architecture have been extensively studied in model organisms, such as . However, little is known about the role of... (Review)
Review
The principles and function of chromatin and nuclear architecture have been extensively studied in model organisms, such as . However, little is known about the role of these epigenetic processes in transcriptional regulation in other insects including mosquitoes, which are major disease vectors and a worldwide threat for human health. Some of these life-threatening diseases are malaria, which is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus and transmitted by mosquitoes; dengue fever, which is caused by an arbovirus mainly transmitted by ; and West Nile fever, which is caused by an arbovirus transmitted by spp. In this contribution, we review what is known about chromatin-associated mechanisms and the 3D genome structure in various mosquito vectors, including , , and spp. We also discuss the similarities between epigenetic mechanisms in mosquitoes and the model organism , and advocate that the field could benefit from the cross-application of state-of-the-art functional genomic technologies that are well-developed in the fruit fly. Uncovering the mosquito regulatory genome can lead to the discovery of unique regulatory networks associated with the parasitic life-style of these insects. It is also critical to understand the molecular interactions between the vectors and the pathogens that they transmit, which could hold the key to major breakthroughs on the fight against mosquito-borne diseases. Finally, it is clear that epigenetic mechanisms controlling mosquito environmental plasticity and evolvability are also of utmost importance, particularly in the current context of globalization and climate change.
PubMed: 33365050
DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.602949 -
Microbiology Spectrum Nov 2016Malaria is a disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium, transmitted through the bites of female anopheles flies. Plasmodium falciparum causes severe malaria... (Review)
Review
Malaria is a disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium, transmitted through the bites of female anopheles flies. Plasmodium falciparum causes severe malaria with undulating high fever (malaria tropica). Literary evidence of malarial infection dates back to the early Greek period, when Hippocrates described the typical undulating fever highly suggestive of plasmodial infection. Recent immunological and molecular analyses describe the unambiguous identification of malarial infections in several ancient Egyptian mummies and a few isolated cases in Roman and Renaissance Europe. Although the numbers of cases are low, there is evidence that the overall infection rates may have been relatively high and that this infectious disease may have had a significant impact on historical populations.
Topics: Animals; Anopheles; DNA, Ancient; Egypt, Ancient; Europe; Female; History, Ancient; Humans; Malaria; Malaria, Falciparum; Mummies; Paleopathology; Plasmodium; Plasmodium falciparum
PubMed: 27837743
DOI: 10.1128/microbiolspec.PoH-0006-2015 -
Trends in Parasitology Oct 2021Taxonomic reassignments were suggested for Neotropical anopheline malaria vectors, elevating four monophyletic groups Kerteszia, Lophopodomyia, Nyssorhynchus, and...
Taxonomic reassignments were suggested for Neotropical anopheline malaria vectors, elevating four monophyletic groups Kerteszia, Lophopodomyia, Nyssorhynchus, and Stethomyia to the genus level, upending their conventional status as subgenera of the genus Anopheles. Two questions are proposed. Do the advantages of reclassification outweigh its disadvantages? Is the reclassification generally accepted and/or scientifically imperative?
Topics: Animals; Anopheles; Classification; Parasitology
PubMed: 34219031
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2021.06.003 -
Journal of Arthropod-borne Diseases Mar 2021Among the blood-sucking insects, mosquitoes have a very special position, because they transmit parasites of the genus , which cause malaria as one of the main... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Among the blood-sucking insects, mosquitoes have a very special position, because they transmit parasites of the genus , which cause malaria as one of the main vector-borne disease worldwide. The aim of this review study was to evaluate utility of complete mitochondrial genomes in phylogenetic classification of the species of .
METHODS
The complete mitochondrial genome sequences belonging to 28 species of the genus (n=32) were downloaded from NCBI. The phylogenetic trees were constructed using the ML, NJ, ME, and Bayesian inference methods.
RESULTS
In general, the results of the present survey revealed that the complete mitochondrial genomes act very accurately in recognition of the taxonomic and phylogenetic status of these species and provide a higher level of support than those based on individual or partial mitochondrial genes so that by using them, we can meticulously reconstruct and modify classification.
CONCLUSION
Understanding the taxonomic position of , can be a very effective step in better planning for controlling these malaria vectors in the world and will improve our knowledge of their evolutionary biology.
PubMed: 34277853
DOI: 10.18502/jad.v15i1.6483 -
PloS One 2023Bacterial content of mosquitoes has given rise to the development of innovative tools that influence and seek to control malaria transmission. This study identified the...
Bacterial content of mosquitoes has given rise to the development of innovative tools that influence and seek to control malaria transmission. This study identified the bacterial microbiota in field-collected female adults of the Anopheles hyrcanus group and three Anopheles species, Anopheles nivipes, Anopheles philippinensis, and Anopheles vagus, from an endemic area in the southeastern part of Ubon Ratchathani Province, northeastern Thailand, near the Lao PDR-Cambodia-Thailand border. A total of 17 DNA libraries were generated from pooled female Anopheles abdomen samples (10 abdomens/ sample). The mosquito microbiota was characterized through the analysis of DNA sequences from the V3-V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene, and data were analyzed in QIIME2. A total of 3,442 bacterial ASVs were obtained, revealing differences in the microbiota both within the same species/group and between different species/group. Statistical difference in alpha diversity was observed between An. hyrcanus group and An. vagus and between An. nivipes and An. vagus, and beta diversity analyses showed that the bacterial community of An. vagus was the most dissimilar from other species. The most abundant bacteria belonged to the Proteobacteria phylum (48%-75%) in which Pseudomonas, Serratia, and Pantoea were predominant genera among four Anopheles species/group. However, the most significantly abundant genus observed in each Anopheles species/group was as follows: Staphylococcus in the An. hyrcanus group, Pantoea in the An. nivipes, Rosenbergiella in An. philippinensis, and Pseudomonas in An. vagus. Particularly, Pseudomonas sp. was highly abundant in all Anopheles species except An. nivipes. The present study provides the first study on the microbiota of four potential malaria vectors as a starting step towards understanding the role of the microbiota on mosquito biology and ultimately the development of potential tools for malaria control.
Topics: Animals; Female; Anopheles; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Thailand; Mosquito Vectors; Malaria; Pantoea; Pseudomonas
PubMed: 37590198
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289733 -
Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease Sep 2009The genus Plasmodium includes many species that naturally cause malaria among apes and monkeys. The 2004 discovery of people infected by Plasmodium knowlesi in Malaysian... (Review)
Review
The genus Plasmodium includes many species that naturally cause malaria among apes and monkeys. The 2004 discovery of people infected by Plasmodium knowlesi in Malaysian Borneo alerted to the potential for non-human species of plasmodia to cause human morbidity and mortality. Subsequent work revealed what appears to be a surprisingly high risk of infection and relatively severe disease, including among travelers to Southeast Asia. The biology and medicine of this zoonosis is reviewed here, along with an examination of the spectrum of Plasmodium species that may cause infection of humans.
Topics: Animals; Anopheles; Haplorhini; Host-Parasite Interactions; Humans; Malaria; Plasmodium; Public Health; Travel; Zoonoses
PubMed: 19747661
DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2009.06.004 -
BioMed Research International 2022Malaria parasites are only transmitted by female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles; hence, the disease's distribution is linked to that of the vector mosquitoes. As...
Malaria parasites are only transmitted by female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles; hence, the disease's distribution is linked to that of the vector mosquitoes. As such, the goal of this study was to find out the spatial and temporal distribution of Anopheles mosquito adults in the research sites. This was a repeated cross-sectional ecological study that took place in Morogoro and Dodoma, Tanzania. Vacuum aspiration was used to collect mosquitoes both outside and inside human dwellings. All mosquito-related data was collected and entered into appropriate data collection forms. Female mosquitoes were recognized morphologically using Gillies and Coetzee morphological criteria, followed by PCR. In total, about 2742 mosquitoes with an average collection of 18.21 ± 1.12 per day were collected outside human houses of which 1717 (10.51 ± 1.17) and 1025 (8.42 ± 1.41) were collected from Morogoro and Dodoma, respectively. Of the captured mosquitoes, 89.0%, 10.0%, and 1.0% were recognized as , , and , respectively. The distribution varied significantly with seasons, whereby 302 (4.72 ± 1.04) and 2440 (12.96 ± 1.52) mosquitoes were captured in the cold-dry and warm-wet season, respectively ( < 0.0001). Of the captured mosquitoes, 42.33%, 16.33%, 14.96%, and 4.27 were found on the ceiling, stored junks, verandas, and barks/tree, respectively. In malaria-endemic countries, vector control forms an important component of the malaria control efforts. This study found significant variation of Anopheles mosquito abundance in time and space with being the most predominant malaria vector. This signifies the need to introduce mosquito control methods that will target the less anthropophilic or the immature aquatic stages. The study further found that underbeds, store room/piled bags, and undisturbed curtains were the most preferred resting places by mosquitoes signifying to be the most effective strategic sites for spraying insecticides during the implementation of indoor residual spraying (IRS).
Topics: Animals; Anopheles; Female; Humans; Malaria; Mosquito Control; Mosquito Vectors; Tanzania
PubMed: 35047638
DOI: 10.1155/2022/6098536 -
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection... 2017The blood feeding requirements of insects are often exploited by pathogens for their transmission. This is also the case of the protozoan parasites of genus , the... (Review)
Review
The blood feeding requirements of insects are often exploited by pathogens for their transmission. This is also the case of the protozoan parasites of genus , the causative agents of malaria. Every year malaria claims the lives of a half million people, making its vector, the mosquito, the deadliest animal in the world. However, mosquitoes mount powerful immune responses that efficiently limit parasite proliferation. Among the immune signaling pathways identified in the main malaria vector , the NF-κB-like signaling cascades REL2 and REL1 are essential for eliciting proper immune reactions, but only REL2 has been implicated in the responses against the human malaria parasite . Instead, constitutive activation of REL1 causes massive killing of rodent malaria parasites. In this review, we summarize our present knowledge on the REL2 pathway in mosquitoes and its role in mosquito immune responses to diverse pathogens, with a focus on . Mosquito-parasite interactions are crucial for malaria transmission and, therefore, represent a potential target for malaria control strategies.
Topics: Animals; Anopheles; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Immunity, Cellular; Immunity, Innate; Insect Proteins; Malaria; Malaria, Falciparum; Models, Immunological; Mosquito Vectors; NF-kappa B; Plasmodium; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 28680852
DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00258 -
Annual Review of Entomology 2003The century-old discovery of the role of Anopheles in human malaria transmission precipitated intense study of this genus at the alpha taxonomy level, but until recently... (Review)
Review
The century-old discovery of the role of Anopheles in human malaria transmission precipitated intense study of this genus at the alpha taxonomy level, but until recently little attention was focused on the systematics of this group. The application of molecular approaches to systematic problems ranging from subgeneric relationships to relationships at and below the species level is helping to address questions such as anopheline phylogenetics and biogeography, the nature of species boundaries, and the forces that have structured genetic variation within species. Current knowledge in these areas is reviewed, with an emphasis on the Anopheles gambiae model. The recent publication of the genome of this anopheline mosquito will have a profound impact on inquiries at all taxonomic levels, supplying better tools for estimating phylogeny and population structure in the short term, and ultimately allowing the identification of genes and/or regulatory networks underlying ecological differentiation, speciation, and vectorial capacity.
Topics: Animals; Anopheles; Biological Evolution; Cytogenetics; DNA; Genetics, Population; Humans; Hybridization, Genetic; Insect Vectors; Malaria; Phylogeny; Species Specificity
PubMed: 12208816
DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ento.48.091801.112647 -
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Jun 2022Mayaro virus (MAYV) is an arboviral pathogen in the genus Alphavirus that is circulating in South America with potential to spread to naïve regions. MAYV is also one of...
Mayaro virus (MAYV) is an arboviral pathogen in the genus Alphavirus that is circulating in South America with potential to spread to naïve regions. MAYV is also one of the few viruses with the ability to be transmitted by mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles, as well as the typical arboviral transmitting mosquitoes in the genus Aedes. Few studies have investigated the infection response of Anopheles mosquitoes. In this study we detail the transcriptomic and small RNA responses of An. stephensi to infection with MAYV via infectious bloodmeal at 2, 7, and 14 days post infection (dpi). 487 unique transcripts were significantly regulated, 78 putative novel miRNAs were identified, and an siRNA response is observed targeting the MAYV genome. Gene ontology analysis of transcripts regulated at each timepoint shows a number of proteases regulated at 2 and 7 dpi, potentially representative of Toll or melanization pathway activation, and repression of pathways related to autophagy and apoptosis at 14 dpi. These findings provide a basic understanding of the infection response of An. stephensi to MAYV and help to identify host factors which might be useful to target to inhibit viral replication in Anopheles mosquitoes.
Topics: Alphavirus; Alphavirus Infections; Animals; Anopheles; Arboviruses; MicroRNAs; Transcriptome
PubMed: 35763539
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010507