Mosquito biology. Evolution of sexual traits influencing vectorial capacity in anopheline mosquitoes.
The availability of genome sequences from 16 anopheline species provides unprecedented opportunities to study the evolution of reproductive traits relevant for malaria transmission. In Anopheles gambiae, a likely candidate for sexual selection is male 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). Sexual transfer of this steroid hormone as part of a mating plug dramatically changes female physiological processes intimately tied to vectorial capacity. By combining phenotypic studies with ancestral state reconstructions and phylogenetic analyses, we show that mating plug transfer and male 20E synthesis are both derived characters that have coevolved in anophelines, driving the adaptation of a female 20E-interacting protein that promotes oogenesis via mechanisms also favoring Plasmodium survival. Our data reveal coevolutionary dynamics of reproductive traits between the sexes likely to have shaped the ability of anophelines to transmit malaria.
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Sara N
SN
Mitchell
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia 06100, Italy.
Evdoxia G
EG
Kakani
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Adam
A
South
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
Paul I
PI
Howell
Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, Geneva 1211, Switzerland. Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Geneva 1211, Switzerland. Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Robert M
RM
Waterhouse
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia 06100, Italy. fcatter@hsph.harvard.edu.
Flaminia
F
Catteruccia
D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001692:Biological Transport; D004441:Ecdysterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology*; D008288:Malaria / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D009866:Oogenesis / Q000502:physiology; D010058:Oviposition / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny
D004441:Ecdysterone