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Current Opinion in Insect Science Oct 2017Micronutrients or non-energetic nutrients (NEN) are needed in reduced amounts, but are essential for many mosquito physiological processes that influence biological... (Review)
Review
Micronutrients or non-energetic nutrients (NEN) are needed in reduced amounts, but are essential for many mosquito physiological processes that influence biological traits from vector competence to reproductive capacity. The NEN include amino acids (AA), vitamins, salts, metals and sterols. Free AA plays critical roles controlling most physiological processes, from digestion to reproduction. Particularly proline connects metabolic pathways in energy production, flight physiology and ammonia detoxification. Metal, in particular iron and calcium, salts, sterol and vitamin homeostasis are critical for cell signaling, respiration, metabolism and reproduction. Micronutrient homeostasis influence the symbiotic relationships with microorganisms, having important implications in mosquitoes' nutrition, physiology and behavior, as well as in mosquito immunity and vector competence.
Topics: Animals; Culicidae; Homeostasis; Micronutrients; Nutritional Requirements
PubMed: 29129275
DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2017.07.002 -
Trends in Parasitology Nov 2020
Review
Topics: Animals; Culicidae; Humans; Mosquito Control; Vector Borne Diseases
PubMed: 32952062
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.08.003 -
Insect Biochemistry and Molecular... Aug 2019The mosquito immune system has evolved in the presence of continuous encounters with fungi that range from food to foes. Herein, we review the field of mosquito-fungal... (Review)
Review
The mosquito immune system has evolved in the presence of continuous encounters with fungi that range from food to foes. Herein, we review the field of mosquito-fungal interactions, providing an overview of current knowledge and topics of interest. Mosquitoes encounter fungi in their aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Mosquito larvae are exposed to fungi on plant detritus, within the water column, and at the water surface. Adult mosquitoes are exposed to fungi during indoor and outdoor resting, blood and sugar feeding, mating, and oviposition. Fungi enter the mosquito body through different routes, including ingestion and through active or passive breaches in the cuticle. Oral uptake of fungi can be beneficial to mosquitoes, as yeasts hold nutritional value and support larval development. However, ingestion of or surface contact with fungal entomopathogens leads to colonization of the mosquito with often lethal consequences to the host. The mosquito immune system recognizes fungi and mounts cellular and humoral immune responses in the hemocoel, and possibly epithelial immune responses in the gut. These responses are regulated transcriptionally through multiple signal transduction pathways. Proteolytic protease cascades provide additional regulation of antifungal immunity. Together, these immune responses provide an efficient barrier to fungal infections, which need to be overcome by entomopathogens. Therefore, fungi constitute an excellent tool to examine the molecular underpinnings of mosquito immunity and to identify novel antifungal peptides. In addition, recent advances in mycobiome analyses can now be used to examine the contribution of fungi to various mosquito traits, including vector competence.
Topics: Animals; Culicidae; Ecosystem; Fungi; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Mycobiome
PubMed: 31265904
DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2019.103182 -
Infection, Genetics and Evolution :... Oct 2017The field of morphometrics is developing quickly. Recent advances have enabled geometric techniques to be applied to many zoological problems, particularly those... (Review)
Review
The field of morphometrics is developing quickly. Recent advances have enabled geometric techniques to be applied to many zoological problems, particularly those involving epidemiologically-relevant mosquitoes. Herein, we briefly introduce geometric morphometric (GM) techniques and then review selected groups of mosquitoes (Culicidae) to which those techniques have been applied. In most of the reviewed cases, GM was capable of satisfactorily discriminating among the tested groups primarily when the studies considered differences within and among species, sexual dimorphism, treatments and the separation of laboratory strains. Although GM approaches have developed quite rapidly, some caution must be taken during data processing for a reliable biometrical approach, such as allometry and asymmetry analyses, scale removal and wing clarification staining for landmark digitization. We also critically forecast directions in this field and discuss how the creation of image databases should enhance species identification in culicids.
Topics: Animals; Culicidae; Genetic Association Studies; Genetic Variation; Genomics; Phenotype; Polymorphism, Genetic; Sex Characteristics; Species Specificity
PubMed: 28673547
DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2017.06.029 -
Parasites & Vectors Aug 2018Mosquito-borne diseases cause major human diseases in almost every part of the world. In West Africa, and notably in Mali, vector control measures help reduce the impact... (Review)
Review
Mosquito-borne diseases cause major human diseases in almost every part of the world. In West Africa, and notably in Mali, vector control measures help reduce the impact of mosquito-borne diseases, although malaria remains a threat to both morbidity and mortality. The most recent overview article on mosquitoes in Mali was published in 1961, with a total of 88 species. Our present review focuses on mosquitoes of medical importance among which the Anopheles vectors of Plasmodium and filaria, as well as the Culex and Aedes vectors of arboviruses. It aims to provide a concise update of the literature on Culicidae, covering the ecological areas in which the species are found but also the transmitted pathogens and recent innovative tools for vector surveys. This review highlights the recent introduction of invasive mosquito species, including Aedes albopictus and Culex neavei. The comprehensive list of mosquito species currently recorded includes 106 species (28 species of the Anophelinae and 78 species of the Culicinae). There are probable gaps in our knowledge concerning mosquitoes of the subfamily Culicinae and northern half of Mali because most studies have been carried out on the genus Anopheles and have taken place in the southern part of the country. It is hoped that this review may be useful to decision makers responsible for vector control strategies and to researchers for future surveys on mosquitoes, particularly the vectors of emerging arboviruses.
Topics: Animals; Culicidae; Humans; Mali; Mosquito Vectors
PubMed: 30103823
DOI: 10.1186/s13071-018-3045-8 -
Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in... Apr 2017Mathematical models provide the essential basis of rational research and development strategies in malaria, informing the choice of which technologies to target, which... (Review)
Review
Mathematical models provide the essential basis of rational research and development strategies in malaria, informing the choice of which technologies to target, which deployment strategies to consider, and which populations to focus on. The Internet and remote sensing technologies also enable assembly of ever more relevant field data. Together with supercomputing technology, this has made available timely descriptions of the geography of malaria transmission and disease across the world and made it possible for policy and planning to be informed by detailed simulations of the potential impact of intervention programs. These information technology advances do not replace the basic understanding of the dynamics of malaria transmission that should be embedded in the thinking of anyone planning malaria interventions. The appropriate use of modeling may determine whether we are living in an era of hubris or indeed in an age of eradication.
Topics: Animals; Culicidae; Ecology; Geography; Humans; Malaria; Models, Theoretical
PubMed: 28003280
DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a025460 -
Trends in Parasitology Mar 2016Mosquito-borne viral diseases are a major concern of global health and result in significant economic losses in many countries. As natural vectors, mosquitoes are very... (Review)
Review
Mosquito-borne viral diseases are a major concern of global health and result in significant economic losses in many countries. As natural vectors, mosquitoes are very permissive to and allow systemic and persistent arbovirus infection. Intriguingly, persistent viral propagation in mosquito tissues neither results in dramatic pathological sequelae nor impairs the vectorial behavior or lifespan, indicating that mosquitoes have evolved mechanisms to tolerate persistent infection and developed efficient antiviral strategies to restrict viral replication to nonpathogenic levels. Here we provide an overview of recent progress in understanding mosquito antiviral immunity and advances in the strategies by which mosquitoes control viral infection in specific tissues.
Topics: Animals; Arboviruses; Culicidae; Hemolymph; Neurons; RNA Interference; Salivary Glands; Virus Replication
PubMed: 26626596
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2015.09.009 -
Trends in Parasitology Jan 2019Mosquitoes are widely despised for their exasperating buzzing and irritating bites, and more poignantly because, during blood-feeding, females may transmit pathogens... (Review)
Review
Mosquitoes are widely despised for their exasperating buzzing and irritating bites, and more poignantly because, during blood-feeding, females may transmit pathogens that cause devastating diseases. However, the ability to transmit such viruses, filarial worms, or malaria parasites varies greatly amongst the ∼3500 recognised mosquito species. Applying omics technologies to sample this diversity and explore the biology underlying these variations is bringing increasingly greater resolution that enhances our understanding of mosquito evolution. Here we review the current status of mosquito omics, or 'mozomics', resources and recent advances in their applications to characterise mosquito biology and evolution, with a focus on the intersection of evolutionary and functional genomics to understand the putative links between gene and genome dynamism and mosquito diversity.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Culicidae; Genetic Variation; Genome, Insect; Mosquito Vectors
PubMed: 30391118
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2018.10.003 -
Parasites & Vectors Oct 2021The expansion of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, yellow fever, and chikungunya in the past 15 years has ignited the need for active surveillance of common and... (Review)
Review
The expansion of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, yellow fever, and chikungunya in the past 15 years has ignited the need for active surveillance of common and neglected mosquito-borne infectious diseases. The surveillance should be designed to detect diseases and to provide relevant field-based data for developing and implementing effective control measures to prevent outbreaks before significant public health consequences can occur. Mosquitoes are important vectors of human and animal pathogens, and knowledge on their biodiversity and distribution in the Afrotropical region is needed for the development of evidence-based vector control strategies. Following a comprehensive literature search, an inventory of the diversity and distribution of mosquitoes as well as the different mosquito-borne diseases found in Cameroon was made. A total of 290 publications/reports and the mosquito catalogue website were consulted for the review. To date, about 307 species, four subspecies and one putative new species of Culicidae, comprising 60 species and one putative new species of Anopheles, 67 species and two subspecies of Culex, 77 species and one subspecies of Aedes, 31 species and one subspecies of Eretmapodites, two Mansonia, eight Coquillettidia, and 62 species with unknown medical and veterinary importance (Toxorhynchites, Uranotaenia, Mimomyia, Malaya, Hodgesia, Ficalbia, Orthopodomyia, Aedeomyia, and Culiseta and Lutzia) have been collected in Cameroon. Multiple mosquito species implicated in the transmission of pathogens within Anopheles, Culex, Aedes, Eretmapodites, Mansonia, and Coquillettidia have been reported in Cameroon. Furthermore, the presence of 26 human and zoonotic arboviral diseases, one helminthic disease, and two protozoal diseases has been reported. Information on the bionomics, taxonomy, and distribution of mosquito species will be useful for the development of integrated vector management programmes for the surveillance and elimination of mosquito-borne diseases in Cameroon.
Topics: Aedes; Animals; Anopheles; Cameroon; Culex; Culicidae; Disease Outbreaks; Humans; Mosquito Vectors; Vector Borne Diseases
PubMed: 34635176
DOI: 10.1186/s13071-021-04950-9 -
Trends in Parasitology Mar 2021In vector control, it is widely accepted that killing adult mosquitoes would sharply reduce the proportion of old mosquitoes and cause the greatest changes to malaria... (Review)
Review
In vector control, it is widely accepted that killing adult mosquitoes would sharply reduce the proportion of old mosquitoes and cause the greatest changes to malaria transmission. The principle is based on a mathematical model of the sporozoite rate (the proportion of infective mosquitoes) that emphasized changes in mosquito age. Killing adult mosquitoes also reduces mosquito population densities, which are directly proportional to human biting rates (the number of bites, per person, per day). Eect sizes of vector control can be compared using sporozoite rates and human biting rates, which are commonly measured. We argue that human biting rates convey more use- ful information for planning, monitoring and evaluating vector control, and operational research should focus on understanding mosquito ecology.
Topics: Animals; Bites and Stings; Culicidae; Humans; Malaria; Models, Biological; Mosquito Control
PubMed: 33250441
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.10.011