Humidity sensors that alert mosquitoes to nearby hosts and egg-laying sites.

ABSTRACT: To reproduce and to transmit disease, female mosquitoes must obtain blood meals and locate appropriate sites for egg laying (oviposition). While distinct sensory cues drive each behavior, humidity contributes to both. Here, we identify the mosquito's humidity sensors (hygrosensors). Using generalizable approaches designed to simplify genetic analysis in non-traditional model organisms, we demonstrate that the ionotropic receptor Ir93a mediates mosquito hygrosensation as well as thermosensation. We further show that Ir93a-dependent sensors drive human host proximity detection and blood-feeding behavior, consistent with the overlapping short-range heat and humidity gradients these targets generate. After blood feeding, gravid females require Ir93a to seek high humidity associated with prefer

SUBMITTER: Laursen WJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10023463 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature