Project description:A protein pilot dataset detecting Wolbachia proteins from protein extracted from dissected infected Culex pipiens mosquito ovaries. The experiment was based of an iTRAQ experiment comparing infected and uninfected ovarian tissues and has been usefull in characterizing the wPip (Buckeye) ovarian proteome.
Project description:During probing and feeding, an infected mosquito injects both virus and saliva into the host skin. The presence of mosquito saliva in the skin increases arbovirus pathogenesis in the bitten host, however the exact mechanism behind this remains to be determined. It is hypothesized that disease enhancement is dependent on the function of the dermal endothelium, where an increased permeability aids in the influx of virus-susceptible cells to the bite site and therefore more cells for the virus to replicate in. Here, we investigate and compare the effects of saliva from Culex and Aedes species on the human dermal endothelial cell function in vitro. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of Culex saliva on West Nile virus (WNV) pathogenesis in a mouse model. We found that salivary gland extract from anthropophilic mosquito species (Aedes and Cx. pipiens molestus) induce permeability of the human dermal endothelium, while an ornithophilic mosquito species (Cx. pip. pipiens) does not. We identified that this effect is due to the presence of protease(s) in Cx. pipiens molestus saliva. In addition, we show that the presence of Cx. saliva at the WNV inoculation site in vivo leads to more consistent weight loss, increased permeability in the inoculation site, and increased mortality compared to inoculation of WNV alone. Moving forward, identification and characterization of novel salivary proteins from similar but genetically distinct mosquito species will advance the development of intervention methods to combat potential transmission risks and disease severity of emerging mosquito-borne pathogens.
Project description:The following dataset is a Wolbachia proteome derived from protein extractions of infected ovaries of the mosquito host Culex pipiens.
Project description:Culex pipiens molestus and Cx. p. quinquefasciatus are the members of Culex pipiens Complex, but they display relatively large differences in behavior and physiological responses. We compared the genes of these mosquitoes to identify those that were differentially expressed in each subspecies. Such genes could play important roles in subspecies-specific blood feeding or oviposition behavior. Culex pipiens molestus and Cx. p. quinquefasciatus females were undertaken Illumina RNA sequencing.
