Jenkins Adam M, Muskavitch Marc A T
Biology Department, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.
Biology Department, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. Discovery Research, Biogen Idec, 14 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA 02142.
J Med Entomol. 2015 May;52(3):296-307. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjv024. Epub 2015 Mar 26.
We understand little about photo-preference and the molecular mechanisms governing vision-dependent behavior in vector mosquitoes. Investigations of the influence of photo-preference on adult mosquito behaviors such as endophagy and exophagy and endophily and exophily will enhance our ability to develop and deploy vector-targeted interventions and monitoring techniques. Our laboratory-based analyses have revealed that crepuscular period photo-preference differs between An. gambiae and An. stephensi. We employed qRT-PCR to assess crepuscular transcriptional expression patterns of long wavelength-, short wavelength-, and ultraviolet wavelength-sensing opsins (i.e., rhodopsin-class G-protein coupled receptors) in An. gambiae and in An. stephensi. Transcript levels do not exhibit consistent differences between species across diurnal cycles, indicating that differences in transcript abundances within this gene set are not correlated with these behavioral differences. Using developmentally staged and gender-specific RNAseq data sets in An. gambiae, we show that long wavelength-sensing opsins are expressed in two different patterns (one set expressed during larval stages, and one set expressed during adult stages), while short wavelength- and ultraviolet wavelength-sensing opsins exhibit increased expression during adult stages. Genomic organization of An. gambiae opsins suggests paralogous gene expansion of long wavelength-sensing opsins in comparison with An. stephensi. We speculate that this difference in gene number may contribute to variation between these species in photo-preference behavior (e.g., visual sensitivity).
我们对病媒蚊子的光偏好以及控制视觉依赖行为的分子机制了解甚少。研究光偏好对成年蚊子诸如内食性和外食性以及嗜内性和嗜外性等行为的影响，将提高我们开发和应用针对病媒的干预措施及监测技术的能力。我们基于实验室的分析表明，冈比亚按蚊和斯氏按蚊在黄昏时段的光偏好存在差异。我们采用定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（qRT-PCR）来评估冈比亚按蚊和斯氏按蚊中长波长、短波长和紫外波长感应视蛋白（即视紫红质类G蛋白偶联受体）在黄昏时段的转录表达模式。在昼夜周期中，不同物种之间的转录水平并未表现出一致的差异，这表明该基因集内转录丰度的差异与这些行为差异无关。利用冈比亚按蚊发育阶段和性别特异性的RNA测序数据集，我们发现长波长感应视蛋白以两种不同模式表达（一组在幼虫阶段表达，另一组在成虫阶段表达），而短波长和紫外波长感应视蛋白在成虫阶段表达增加。冈比亚按蚊视蛋白的基因组组织表明，与斯氏按蚊相比，长波长感应视蛋白存在旁系同源基因扩增。我们推测，基因数量的这种差异可能导致这些物种在光偏好行为（如视觉敏感性）上存在差异。
