Project description:Genomic changes associated with resistance to the pyrethroid insecticide deltamethrin were investigated between six mosquito lines all originating from La Reunion Island. Two of these 6 lines, Sel and NS, derived from the same composite population made by pooling six distinct field populations from La Reunion Island: in the lab, the Sel line was subjected to deltamethrin selection for five successive generations at the adult stage while the NS line was maintained without selection. Three lines correspond to field populations collected in 2018-2029 in three distinct localities (SL: Saint-Louis, SP: Saint Pierre, SS: Sainte-Suzanne. Finally, the susceptible line SRun originating collected in the early 2000s from La Réunion island and maintained in the laboratory since then was also used as a reference.
Project description:Gene expression changes were investigated between six mosquito lines originating from La Reunion Island and correlated with their differential deltamethrin resistance levels. Two of these 6 lines derived from a composite population made by pooling six distinct field populations from La Reunion Island: the Sel line was subjected to deltamethrin selection for five successive generations at the adult stage while the NS line was maintained without selection. Three field populations collected in 2018-2029 in three distinct localities (SL: Saint-Louis, SP: Saint Pierre, SS: Sainte-Suzanne) were also used. Finally, the susceptible line SRun originating collected in the early 2000s from La Réunion island and maintained in the laboratory since then was also used as a reference. For each line, four replicate transcriptomes were generated from 5-days old non-blood fed adult females.
Project description:We report a global survey of viral small RNAs (vsmRNAs) from >200 Aedes aegypti samples to identify many mosquito viruses that actively infect this prominent arboviral vector. Ae. aegypti viruses in the Americas were abundant, with some displaying geographical boundaries. Viruses infecting Asian Ae. aegypti were similar to those in the Americas and revealed the first wild example of dengue vsmRNAs. African Ae. aegypti displayed vsmRNAs from viruses unique to these African strains. Academic lab colonies generally lacked viruses, yet two commercial strains were deeply infected by a tombus-like virus that is related to plant viruses. Comparing matched viral long RNAs to vsmRNAs revealed viral transcripts evading the mosquito RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. By infecting mosquito cells with Ae. aegypti homogenates, we generated stably infected cell lines which produced vsmRNAs that were comparable to native mosquito vsmRNA patterns. Lastly, we demonstrate that these stably infected mosquito cells producing vsmRNAs can exert gene silencing of reporters bearing viral sequence segments, providing a potential explanation for how Ae. aegypti can tolerate the persistence of viral infections. This vsmRNA genomics approach in Ae. aegypti can add to existing vector surveillance approaches by discovering new viruses that persist in mosquito populations.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of mosquito head comparing control non-swarming mosquito with swarming mosquito. Screen the genes associated with swarming.
Project description:To test the contributions of phagocytic immune cells to mosquito immunity, we depleted mosquito phagocytes using clodronate liposomes and then challenged mosquitoes with malaria parasites. Observing a large increase in infection intensity, the purpose of the RNA-seq experiment is to determine their effects of phagocyte depletion on mosquito immunity.