Blood meal induces global changes in midgut gene expression in the disease vector, Aedes aegypti.
Blood feeding is an essential developmental process for many arthropods and plays a significant role in disease transmission. Understanding physiological responses in the midgut is important because it is the primary site of blood meal digestion and pathogenic infection. Processes that occur in the midgut in response to a blood meal have been studied but are poorly understood. Here, we use cDNA microarrays to examine midgut gene expression on a global level in response to blood feeding to assist in unraveling these processes. We have developed Aedes aegypti microarrays consisting of clones obtained from an expressed sequence tag project. Individual clones were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and printed onto glass slides. These microarrays were used to study the effects of a blood meal on midgut gene expression over a 72-h time course. As a result, a number of genes involved in processes such as nutrient uptake and metabolism, cellular stress responses, ion balance, and PM formation, as well as a number of unknown genes were induced or repressed in response to a blood meal based on this microarray data.
Sanders
Heather R
HR
Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of California, 5429 Boyce Hall, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Evans
Amy M
AM
Ross
Linda S
LS
Gill
Sarjeet S
SS
D000330:Aedes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000235:genetics; D001769:Blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004064:Digestive System / Q000378:metabolism*; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013997:Time Factors; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D017931:DNA Primers; D005227:Fatty Acids; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins