Research Project
7448543
[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): My career goal is to obtain a faculty position in the field of animal physiology or integrative biology, both fields of which require broad training in biology. Vector management requires an array of tools to study mosquitoes at multiple levels, so that we gain a deeper understanding of how mosquitoes function in their environment, leading to novel ways of controlling insect vectors of disease. My background in organismal biology, ecology, and biochemistry will help reach this goal. Currently, my research is beginning to characterize the molecular endocrinology of mosquito egg development, preliminary results of which support this RSDA application. My research program entails characterizing the hormonal and nutritional control of female egg production. The central concept that my future studies will seek to explain is how tissues convey information about nutrient levels to the nervous system that then coordinates hormone production for egg maturation in mosquitoes. These key regulatory processes can serve as targets for disruption as an approach for vector control. Because blood digestion itself is a complex physiological process, I use a species of "autogenous" mosquito, Ochlerotatus atropalpus, which does not require a blood meal, thus removing the factor of blood digestion from my experiments. In progress toward my reseach goals, I have identified sets of genes in ovaries and fat body of this mosquito that may be involved in the regulation of reproduction. In this application, I propose to extend my examination of tissues that play a key role in monitoring and regulating oogenesis by identifying genes in female brains. I will then characterize tissue-specific genes expected to be involved in mosquito egg production. Candidate genes and proteins will be subjected to quantitative PCR and immunoassays. Three peptide hormones involved in regulating egg development will also be characterized over the course of oogenesis and subjected to bioassays to substantiate the observed changes. From these studies, I expect to characterize sets of known and new genes in mosquitoes that encode products required to regulate egg development. Genomic databases are available for the vectors Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti, giving me information to mine for the identification of genes involved in these same processes. Identification and characterization of these genes should expand our understanding of hematophagy and pathogen transmission in mosquito vectors. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]
