title: Genes and Odors Underlying the Recent Evolution of Mosquito Preference for Humans.
abstract: Mosquito species that specialize in biting humans are few but dangerous. They include the African malaria vectors Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii, as well as Aedes aegypti, the cosmopolitan vector of dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever. These mosquitoes have evolved a remarkable innate preference for human odor that helps them find and bite us. Here I review what is known about this important evolutionary adaptation, from its historical documentation to its chemical and molecular basis.
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. Electronic address: csm7@princeton.edu.
authors.forename: Carolyn S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: McBride
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D009033:Culicidae / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings / Q000235:genetics; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000235:genetics*; D009812:Odorants; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity