Ectopic expression of a cecropin transgene in the human malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae): effects on susceptibility to Plasmodium.
Genetically altering the disease vector status of insects using recombinant DNA technologies is being considered as an alternative to eradication efforts. Manipulating the endogenous immune response of mosquitoes such as the temporal and special expression of antimicrobial peptides like cecropin may result in a refractory phenotype. Using transgenic technology a unique pattern of expression of cecropin A (cecA) in Anopheles gambiae was created such that cecA was expressed beginning 24 h after a blood meal in the posterior midgut. Two independent lines of transgenic An. gambiae were created using a piggyBac gene vector containing the An. gambiae cecA cDNA under the regulatory control of the Aedes aegypti carboxypeptidase promoter. Infection with Plasmodium berghei resulted in a 60% reduction in the number of oocysts in transgenic mosquitoes compared with nontransgenic mosquitoes. Manipulating the innate immune system of mosquitoes can negatively affect their capacity to serve as hosts for the development of disease-causing microbes.
Kim
Won
W
Center for Biosystems Research, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
Koo
Hyeyoung
H
Richman
Adam M
AM
Seeley
Douglas
D
Vizioli
Jacopo
J
Klocko
Andrew D
AD
O'Brochta
David A
DA
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology*; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007301:Insect Hormones / Q000235:genetics; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000469:parasitology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015183:Restriction Mapping
D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D017931:DNA Primers; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D007301:Insect Hormones; C031161:cecropin A