Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
Nature. 2010 Mar 4;464(7285):66-71. doi: 10.1038/nature08834. Epub 2010 Feb 3.
The mosquito Anopheles gambiae is the major vector of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. It locates its human hosts primarily through olfaction, but little is known about the molecular basis of this process. Here we functionally characterize the Anopheles gambiae odorant receptor (AgOr) repertoire. We identify receptors that respond strongly to components of human odour and that may act in the process of human recognition. Some of these receptors are narrowly tuned, and some salient odorants elicit strong responses from only one or a few receptors, suggesting a central role for specific transmission channels in human host-seeking behaviour. This analysis of the Anopheles gambiae receptors permits a comparison with the corresponding Drosophila melanogaster odorant receptor repertoire. We find that odorants are differentially encoded by the two species in ways consistent with their ecological needs. Our analysis of the Anopheles gambiae repertoire identifies receptors that may be useful targets for controlling the transmission of malaria.
冈比亚按蚊是撒哈拉以南非洲地区疟疾的主要传播媒介。它主要通过嗅觉来定位人类宿主，但人们对此过程的分子基础知之甚少。在这里，我们对冈比亚按蚊气味受体（AgOr）谱进行了功能表征。我们鉴定出了对人体气味成分有强烈反应的受体，这些受体可能在人类识别过程中发挥作用。其中一些受体的特异性很强，一些明显的气味仅能引起一个或几个受体的强烈反应，这表明在人类宿主寻求行为中，特定的传输通道可能起着核心作用。对冈比亚按蚊受体的这种分析可以与相应的黑腹果蝇气味受体谱进行比较。我们发现，两种物种对气味的编码方式存在差异，这与它们的生态需求是一致的。我们对冈比亚按蚊受体谱的分析确定了一些可能对控制疟疾传播有用的受体。
