How mosquitoes are conquering the world — in four charts

Mosquito-borne diseases are breaking records as climate change and other human influences allow the insects to expand their range.

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Mosquito–capsid interactions contribute to flavivirus vector specificity | Nature

Multiple mosquito species serve as competent vectors to carry and transmit numerous flaviviruses1,2. Several long-standing scientific questions remain to be answered, including identification of the fundamental factors that facilitate flavivirus infectivity in mosquitoes and the genetic basis that contributes to the naturally occurring interspecies specificity of mosquitoes to flaviviruses3–8, such as Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to dengue virus (DENV). Here we report that circulating mature virions are inactivated by the acidity of mosquito haemolymph; thus, extracellular vesicles carrying replication-competent viral nucleocapsids serve as the predominant means of intercellular viral dissemination. Mechanistically, mosquito valosin-containing protein (VCP) binds to the viral capsid, thereby allowing the incorporation of nucleocapsids into extracellular vesicles. The capsid of a flavivirus (such as DENV) selectively binds to the VCP of its natural vector (Ae. aegypti), but not to that of a

doi.org

Small RNA genomics of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes discovers infectious viruses that trigger an RNA interference response - Nature Communications

This study is a small RNA genomics survey from global Aedes aegypti mosquito samples, and detected replicating viruses. This study then isolated several mosquito viruses into cell cultures to show tha...

nature.com

Postdoctoral position in mosquito population genomics at Institut Pasteur in Paris - Research

The Insect-Virus Interactions Unit is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to investigate the genomic variations underlying a mosquito’s capacity to transmit human arboviruses. Description Our resear...

research.pasteur.fr

Postdoctoral position in mosquito population genomics at Institut Pasteur in Paris - Research

The Insect-Virus Interactions Unit is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to investigate the genomic variations underlying a mosquito’s capacity to transmit human arboviruses. Description Our resear...

research.pasteur.fr

Two postdoctoral positions in epidemic modelling - Research

Job description We are recruiting 2 postdocs to contribute to research projects in the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases Unit, at Institut Pasteur in Paris. The postdocs will develop state...

research.pasteur.fr

Pourquoi les moustiques transmettent-ils plus facilement les souches africaines du virus Zika que ses variantes asiatiques ?

Dans une étude publiée dans la revue Nature Communications, des chercheurs ont exploré pourquoi les moustiques transmettent plus efficacement les sou

inee.cnrs.fr

Un gène antiviral découvert chez les moustiques favorise la transmission de la dengue

Pourquoi certains moustiques sont-ils plus susceptibles de transmettre la dengue que d’autres ?

inee.cnrs.fr

I’m going to halve my publication output. You should consider slow science, too

If we don’t slow down, the research enterprise is going to crash, argues Adrian Barnett.

nature.com

Beating back the Aedes aegypti mosquito

Scientists are taking a multipronged approach to tackle this dangerous carrier of dengue, yellow fever and other noxious viruses

knowablemagazine.org

Stage-resolved metabolomics reveals the methionine cycle as a key regulator of Aedes aegypti development and dengue virus susceptibility

Developmental transitions in the mosquito Aedes aegypti are central to vector competence and disease transmission, yet the underlying metabolic programs remain poorly defined. Here, we use untargeted ...

doi.org

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Sarah Merkling wants to "pasteurize" mosquitoes!

At the Institut Pasteur, Sarah Merkling's research focuses on a topic that is still largely unknown: interactions between mosquitoes and viruses. She boldly devises novel strategies based on state-of-...

pasteur.fr

Engineered Metarhizium fungi produce longifolene to attract and kill mosquitoes - Nature Microbiology

Insects colonized with Metarhizium fungi emit longifolene to lure new hosts for infection to disperse spores. A fungal strain was engineered to emit longifolene to attract and eliminate mosquitoes.

nature.com

Origins of the London Underground mosquito revealed | Natural History Museum

New research reveals that these insects likely evolved in the Mediterranean basin more than 1,000 years ago.

nhm.ac.uk

Current mosquitoes evolved more recently than previously thought

Genetic analysis reveals that most living genera of mosquitoes emerged around 73 million years ago.

nature.com

A targeted amplicon sequencing panel for cost-effective high-throughput genotyping of Aedes aegypti

The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the primary vector for several medically significant arboviruses, including dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. Studying the genetic diversity of Ae. aegypti is ...

biorxiv.org

Mosquito Genetics May Explain Why Zika Virus Outbreaks Are Rare in Africa – But Climate Change Could Shift the Balance - High Meadows Environmental Institute

A new study reveals that Africa’s low rates of Zika virus outbreaks may be due to a surprising factor: the genetic makeup of local mosquito populations. Research by scientists at the High Meadows Envi...

environment.princeton.edu