University of Perugia, Italy.
Pathog Glob Health. 2012 May;106(2):82-93. doi: 10.1179/2047773212Y.0000000016.
Human malaria, a major public health burden in tropical and subtropical countries, is transmitted exclusively by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. Malaria control strategies aimed at inducing sexual sterility in natural vector populations are an attractive alternative to the use of insecticides. However, despite their importance as disease vectors, limited information is available on the molecular mechanisms regulating fertility in Anopheles mosquitoes. In the major malaria vector, An. gambiae, the full complement of sperm and seminal fluid required for a female's lifelong egg production is obtained from a single mating event. This single mating has important consequences for the physiology and behavior of An. gambiae females: in particular, they become refractory to further insemination, and they start laying eggs. In other insects including Drosophila, similar post-copulatory changes are induced by seminal proteins secreted by the male accessory glands and transferred to the female during mating. In this review, we analyze the current state of knowledge on the function and characterization of male seminal proteins in An. gambiae, and provide a comparative assessment of the role of these male reproductive factors in other mosquito vectors of human disease in which female post-copulatory behavior has been studied. Knowledge of the factors and mechanisms regulating fertility in An. gambiae and other vectors can help the design of novel control strategies to fight the spread of disease.
人类疟疾是热带和亚热带国家的主要公共卫生负担，仅通过雌性疟蚊的叮咬传播。旨在诱导自然传播媒介种群中出现性不育的疟疾控制策略，是替代使用杀虫剂的一种有吸引力的选择。然而，尽管它们作为疾病传播媒介很重要，但关于调节疟蚊生殖力的分子机制的信息有限。在主要的疟疾传播媒介冈比亚按蚊中，雌性一生中所需的全部精子和精液都来自于一次交配事件。这种单次交配对冈比亚按蚊雌性的生理和行为有重要影响：特别是，它们对进一步的授精产生抗性，并开始产卵。在其他昆虫包括果蝇中，类似的交配后变化是由雄性附属腺分泌的精液蛋白诱导的，并在交配过程中传递给雌性。在这篇综述中，我们分析了目前关于冈比亚按蚊中雄性精液蛋白功能和特征的知识状况，并对这些雄性生殖因子在其他已研究过雌性交配后行为的人类疾病蚊媒中的作用进行了比较评估。了解调节冈比亚按蚊和其他媒介生殖力的因素和机制，可以帮助设计新的控制策略来对抗疾病的传播。
