Reverse genetics analysis of antiparasitic responses in the malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae.

Anopheles mosquitoes are the major vectors of human malaria parasites. Mosquito-parasite interactions are critical for disease transmission and therefore represent a potential target for malaria control strategies. Mosquitoes mount potent antiparasitic responses, and identification of mosquito factors that limit parasite development is one of the major objectives in the field. To address this question, we have developed a convenient reverse genetics approach by injection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in adult mosquitoes, to evaluate the function of candidate genes in mosquito antiparasitic responses.