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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) in the antenna of insects serve to encode odors in action potential activity conducted to the olfactory lobe of the deuterocerebrum. We performed an analysis of the electrophysiological responses of olfactory neurons in the antennae of the female malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae s.s. and investigated the effect of blood feeding on responsiveness. Forty-four chemicals that are known to be present in human volatile emanations were used as odor stimuli. We identified 6 functional types of trichoid sensilla and 5 functional types of grooved-peg sensilla (GP) based on a hierarchical cluster analysis. Generalist ORNs, tuned to a broad range of odors, moderate specialist ORNs and 2 ORNs tuned to only one odor were identified in different sensilla types. Neurons in GP were tuned to more polar compounds including the important behavioral attractant ammonia and its synergist L-lactic acid, responses to which were found only in GP. Combinatorial coding is the most plausible principle operating in the olfactory system of this mosquito species. We document for the first time both up- and downregulation of ORN responsiveness after blood feeding. Modulation of host-seeking and oviposition behavior is associated with both qualitative and quantitative changes in the peripheral sensory system.
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PMID:Olfactory Coding in Antennal Neurons of the Malaria Mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. 1696

To initiate a comprehensive investigation of chemosensory signal transduction downstream of odorant receptors, we identified and characterized the complete set of genes that encode G-protein alpha subunits in the genome of the malaria vector mosquito An. gambiae. Data are provided on the tissue-specific expression patterns of 10 corresponding aga-transcripts in adult mosquitoes and pre-imago developmental stages. Specific immunoreactivity in chemosensory hairs of female antennae provides evidence in support of the participation of a subset of AGalphaq isoforms in olfactory signal transduction in this mosquito. In contrast, AGalphao is localized along the flagellar axon bundle but is absent from chemosensory sensilla, which suggests that this G-protein alpha subunit does not participate in olfactory signal transduction.
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PMID:Galpha encoding gene family of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiae: expression analysis and immunolocalization of AGalphaq and AGalphao in female antennae. 1702 51

Blood-feeding insects, including the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, use highly specialized and sensitive olfactory systems to locate their hosts. This is accomplished by detecting and following plumes of volatile host emissions, which include carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 is sensed by a population of olfactory sensory neurons in the maxillary palps of mosquitoes and in the antennae of the more genetically tractable fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster. The molecular identity of the chemosensory CO2 receptor, however, remains unknown. Here we report that CO2-responsive neurons in Drosophila co-express a pair of chemosensory receptors, Gr21a and Gr63a, at both larval and adult life stages. We identify mosquito homologues of Gr21a and Gr63a, GPRGR22 and GPRGR24, and show that these are co-expressed in A. gambiae maxillary palps. We show that Gr21a and Gr63a together are sufficient for olfactory CO2-chemosensation in Drosophila. Ectopic expression of Gr21a and Gr63a together confers CO2 sensitivity on CO2-insensitive olfactory neurons, but neither gustatory receptor alone has this function. Mutant flies lacking Gr63a lose both electrophysiological and behavioural responses to CO2. Knowledge of the molecular identity of the insect olfactory CO2 receptors may spur the development of novel mosquito control strategies designed to take advantage of this unique and critical olfactory pathway. This in turn could bolster the worldwide fight against malaria and other insect-borne diseases.
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PMID:Two chemosensory receptors together mediate carbon dioxide detection in Drosophila. 1720 47

In insects, olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) are located in cuticular sensilla, that are present on the antennae and on the maxillary palps. Their axons project into spherical neuropil, the glomeruli, which are characteristic structures in the primary olfactory center throughout the animal kingdom. ORNs in insects often respond specifically to single odor compounds. The projection patterns of these neurons within the primary olfactory center, the antennal lobe, are, however, largely unknown. We developed a method to stain central projections of intact receptor neurons known to respond to host odor compounds in the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. Terminal arborizations from ORNs from antennal sensilla had only a few branches apparently restricted to a single glomerulus. Axonal arborizations of the different neurons originating from the same sensillum did not overlap. ORNs originating from maxillary palp sensilla all projected into a dorso-medial area in both the ipsi- and contralateral antennal lobe, which received in no case axon terminals from antennal receptor neurons. Staining of maxillary palp receptor neurons in a second mosquito species (Aedes aegypti) revealed unilateral arborizations in an area at a similar position as in An. gambiae.
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PMID:Central projections of olfactory receptor neurons from single antennal and palpal sensilla in mosquitoes. 1808 15

Antibody labelling and subsequent three-dimensional reconstructions of the primary olfactory centres, the antennal lobes, of male and female African malaria mosquitoes, Anopheles gambiae, revealed 61 and 60 glomerular neuropils respectively. In addition to the small difference in number of glomeruli, sexual dimorphism was observed in both the size of the antennal lobe and of individual glomeruli. Furthermore, sexual specificity was observed within the array. Anterograde staining of afferents from peripheral olfactory organs support the reconstruction of the glomerular array. Although anterograde stainings support an organotopic organization of the antennal lobe, convergence of afferents originating from different organs into single glomeruli is observed. This finding, in both A. gambiae and A. aegypti, may shed new light upon the development and function of the olfactory system.
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PMID:The antennal lobe of the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae - innervation and three-dimensional reconstruction. 1808 85

Insect sensory arrestins act to desensitize visual and olfactory signal transduction pathways, as evidenced by the phenotypic effects of mutations in the genes encoding both Arr1 and Arr2 in Drosophila melanogaster. To assess whether such arrestins play similar roles in other, more medically relevant dipterans, we examined the ability of Anopheles gambiae sensory arrestin homologs AgArr1 and AgArr2 to rescue phenotypes associated with an olfactory deficit observed in D. melanogaster arrestin mutants. Of these, only AgArr1 facilitated significant phenotypic rescue of the corresponding Drosophila arr mutant olfactory phenotype, consistent with the view that functional orthology is shared by these Arr1 homologs. These results represent the first step in the functional characterization of AgArr1, which is highly expressed in olfactory appendages of An. gambiae in which it is likely to play an essential role in olfactory signal transduction. In addition to providing insight into the common elements of the peripheral olfactory system of dipterans, this work validates the importance of AgArr1 as a potential target for novel anti-malaria strategies that focus on olfactory-based behaviors in An. gambiae.
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PMID:A functional role for Anopheles gambiae Arrestin1 in olfactory signal transduction. 1832 99

The mosquito Anopheles gambiae is the principal Afrotropical vector for human malaria. A central component of its vectorial capacity is the ability to maintain sufficient populations of adults. During both adult and preadult (larval) stages, the mosquitoes depend on the ability to recognize and respond to chemical cues that mediate feeding and survival. In this study, we used a behavioral assay to identify a range of odorant-specific responses of An. gambiae larvae that are dependent on the integrity of the larval antennae. Parallel molecular analyses have identified a subset of the An. gambiae odorant receptors (AgOrs) that are localized to discrete neurons within the larval antennae and facilitate odor-evoked responses in Xenopus oocytes that are consistent with the larval behavioral spectrum. These studies shed light on chemosensory-driven behaviors and represent molecular and cellular characterization of olfactory processes in mosquito larvae. These advances may ultimately enhance the development of vector control strategies, targeting olfactory pathways in larval-stage mosquitoes to reduce the catastrophic effects of malaria and other diseases.
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PMID:The molecular and cellular basis of olfactory-driven behavior in Anopheles gambiae larvae. 1842 8

The cadherin superfamily is a diverse and multifunctional group of proteins with extensive representation across genomes of phylogenetically distant species that is involved in cell-cell communication and adhesion. The mosquito Anopheles gambiae is an emerging model organism for the study of innate immunity and host-pathogen interactions, where the malaria parasite induces a profound rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton at critical stages of infection. We have used bioinformatics tools to retrieve present sequence knowledge about the complete repertoire of cadherins in A. gambiae and compared it to that of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. In A. gambiae, we have identified 43 genes coding for cadherin extracellular domains that were re-annotated to 38 genes and represent an expansion of this gene family in comparison to other invertebrate organisms. The majority of Drosophila cadherins show a 1 : 1 Anopheles orthologue, but we have observed a remarkable expansion in some groups in A. gambiae, such as N-cadherins, that were recently shown to have a role in the olfactory system of the fruit fly. In vivo dsRNA silencing of overrepresented genes in A. gambiae and other genes showing expression at critical tissues for parasite infection will likely advance our understanding of the problems of host preference and hostpathogen interactions in this mosquito species.
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PMID:The cadherin superfamily in Anopheles gambiae: a comparative study with Drosophila melanogaster. 1862 93

Insect odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are small, water-soluble molecules that are thought to transport the hydrophobic odorants to their receptors in the chemosensory neurones. Here we report the identification and molecular characterization of the Anopheles stephensi odorant-binding protein 1 gene (AsteObp1), an Obp1 gene in An. stephensi, a major malaria vector in Asia. We show that AsteObp1 and Anopheles gambiae Obp1 (AgamObp1) are orthologues. These two genes share similar coding sequences and conserved noncoding sequences (CNSs) that may be involved in their regulation. Transcript of AsteObp1 was observed in larvae and reached a relatively high level in late pupae. Quantitative real-time PCR on female adult chemosensory tissues showed approximately 900-fold higher expression of AsteObp1 in antennae than in maxillary palp and proboscis. The amount of AsteObp1 in female legs was approximately 15-fold lower than that of maxillary palp and proboscis. The level of AsteObp1 transcript was seven and 85-fold higher in females than in males in the antennae, and maxillary palp and proboscis, respectively. Moreover, the AsteObp1 level was reduced by approximately 20-fold in maxillary palp and proboscis 24 h after a bloodmeal. Our results indicate that AsteObp1 is likely to function in the female olfactory response and may also be involved in blood-feeding behaviour.
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PMID:Identification and characterization of odorant-binding protein 1 gene from the Asian malaria mosquito, Anopheles stephensi. 1990 81

A systematic functional analysis across much of the conventional Anopheles gambiae odorant receptor (AgOR) repertoire was carried out in Xenopus oocytes using two-electrode, voltage-clamp electrophysiology. The resulting data indicate that each AgOR manifests a distinct odor-response profile and tuning breadth. The large diversity of tuning responses ranges from AgORs that are responsive to a single or small number of odorants (specialists) to more broadly tuned receptors (generalists). Several AgORs were identified that respond robustly to a range of human volatiles that may play a critical role in anopheline host selection. AgOR responses were analyzed further by constructing a multidimensional odor space representing the relationships between odorants and AgOR responses. Within this space, the distance between odorants is related to both chemical class and concentration and may correlate with olfactory discrimination. This study provides a comprehensive overview of olfactory coding mechanisms of An. gambiae that ultimately may aid in fostering the design and development of olfactory-based strategies for reducing the transmission of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.
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PMID:Molecular basis of odor coding in the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiae. 2016 92


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