Fernández-Grandon G Mandela, Gezan Salvador A, Armour John A L, Pickett John A, Logan James G
Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, WC1E 7HT, London, United Kingdom.
School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2015 Apr 22;10(4):e0122716. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0122716. eCollection 2015.
Female mosquitoes display preferences for certain individuals over others, which is determined by differences in volatile chemicals produced by the human body and detected by mosquitoes. Body odour can be controlled genetically but the existence of a genetic basis for differential attraction to insects has never been formally demonstrated. This study investigated heritability of attractiveness to mosquitoes by evaluating the response of Aedes aegypti (=Stegomyia aegypti) mosquitoes to odours from the hands of identical and non-identical twins in a dual-choice assay. Volatiles from individuals in an identical twin pair showed a high correlation in attractiveness to mosquitoes, while non-identical twin pairs showed a significantly lower correlation. Overall, there was a strong narrow-sense heritability of 0.62 (SE 0.124) for relative attraction and 0.67 (0.354) for flight activity based on the average of ten measurements. The results demonstrate an underlying genetic component detectable by mosquitoes through olfaction. Understanding the genetic basis for attractiveness could create a more informed approach to repellent development.
雌性蚊子对某些个体表现出偏好，这是由人体产生并被蚊子检测到的挥发性化学物质的差异所决定的。体味可以通过基因控制，但对昆虫的差异吸引力的遗传基础从未得到正式证明。本研究通过在双选试验中评估埃及伊蚊（=白纹伊蚊）对同卵双胞胎和异卵双胞胎手部气味的反应，调查了对蚊子吸引力的遗传力。同卵双胞胎个体的挥发物对蚊子的吸引力显示出高度相关性，而异卵双胞胎对之间的相关性则显著较低。总体而言，基于十次测量的平均值，相对吸引力的狭义遗传力很强，为0.62（标准误0.124），飞行活动的狭义遗传力为0.67（0.354）。结果表明，蚊子可以通过嗅觉检测到潜在的遗传成分。了解吸引力的遗传基础可以为驱蚊剂的开发创造更明智的方法。
