The Anopheles gambiae vitellogenin gene (VGT2) promoter directs persistent accumulation of a reporter gene product in transgenic Anopheles stephensi following multiple bloodmeals.
Mosquitoes made resistant to pathogens through genetic engineering are proposed as a basis for developing a strategy to control disease transmission. Transgenic approaches that introduce exogenous antipathogen effector genes into mosquito genomes require cis-acting regulatory DNA to control tissue-, stage-, and sex-specific transgene expression. We show that control sequences derived from a vitellogenin-encoding gene of Anopheles gambiae, a major vector in sub-Saharan Africa, can direct expression of an exogenous gene in a tissue-, stage-, and sex-specific manner in Anopheles stephensi, a vector of urban malaria in southern Asia. Specific reporter gene expression was observed in fat-body tissues of transgenic blood-fed females, but not in transgenic males or non-blood-fed transgenic females. Multiple bloodmeals resulted in the continuous presence of reporter gene transcripts for at least 12 days. The persistent expression makes the heterologous promoter a good candidate for controlling transcription of engineered antipathogen effector genes in this important malaria vector.
Chen
Xiao-Guang
XG
Department of Parasitology, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guang Zhou, GD, PR China.
Marinotti
Osvaldo
O
Whitman
Lucia
L
Jasinskiene
Nijole
N
James
Anthony A
AA
Romans
Patricia
P
D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D005260:Female; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D030781:Organisms, Genetically Modified; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014819:Vitellogenins / Q000235:genetics*
D014819:Vitellogenins; D012313:RNA