生物谷报道：科学家们测出了冈比亚按蚊这种疟疾主要传媒的一个感觉器官的结构，按蚊使用这个器官来追踪人类。他们希望这项研究将有助于开发更好的蚊子引诱剂，把它们从人类身边引开，并减少疟疾感染的威胁。
他们的发现8月30日发表在了《当代生物学》（Current Biology）杂志的网站上。
科学家研究的这种感觉器官——下颚须——是从蚊子的头部伸出的三个结构之一，它们共同为蚊子提供嗅觉和味觉的信息。
这组科学家相信蚊子使用下颚须探测远距离的猎物。它使用喙感知近距离的猎物。
此前对埃及伊蚊的研究表明下颚须拥有对二氧化碳和八烯醇（人体释放的一种化学信号）敏感的受体细胞。埃及伊蚊是登革热和黄热病的传播者。
这项新的研究表明冈比亚按蚊的下颚须也对这些化学物质敏感，但是它含有不同的受体细胞，让这种蚊子也对人类独有的其它化合物敏感。
该论文的主要作者、美国范德比尔特大学的生物学教授Laurence Zwiebel说，他们目前正在针对冈比亚按蚊的感受系统设计新的蚊子引诱剂。这些引诱剂将把蚊子引入陷阱，让它们远离人类目标。
赞比亚国立疟疾控制中心的协调员Elizabeth Chizema说：“任何可以用于消灭疟疾的新方法都受到欢迎，因为疟疾仍然是赞比亚等地的严重疾病。”
该项研究是全球卫生重大挑战项目子项目的组成部分。该子项目旨在开发一种化学策略防止冈比亚按蚊传播疟疾。
来自坦桑尼亚Ifakara卫生研发中心、冈比亚医学研究理事会实验室、美国范德比尔特大学和耶鲁大学、荷兰瓦赫宁根大学的科学家共同参与了该研究。
原始出处:
Current Biology, Vol , Issue
Odor Coding in the Maxillary Palp of the Malaria Vector Mosquito Anopheles gambiae
Tan Lu,1,4 Yu Tong Qiu,2,4 Guirong Wang,1,4 Jae Young Kwon,3,4 Michael Rutzler,1 Hyung-Wook Kwon,1 R. Jason Pitts,1 Joop J.A. van Loon,2 Willem Takken,2 John R. Carlson,3 and Laurence J. Zwiebel1,
1 Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Molecular Neuroscience, Institute of Chemical Biology and Global Health and Program in Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235
2 Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8031, 6700 EH Wageningen, The Netherlands
3 Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8103
Corresponding author
Laurence J. Zwiebel
l.zwiebel@vanderbilt.edu
Background
Many species of mosquitoes, including the major malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, utilize carbon dioxide (CO2) and 1-octen-3-ol as olfactory cues in host-seeking behaviors that underlie their vectorial capacity. However, the molecular and cellular basis of such olfactory responses remains largely unknown.
Results
Here, we use molecular and physiological approaches coupled with systematic functional analyses to define the complete olfactory sensory map of the An. gambiae maxillary palp, an olfactory appendage that mediates the detection of these compounds. In doing so, we identify three olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) that are organized in stereotyped triads within the maxillary-palp capitate-peg-sensillum population. One ORN is CO2-responsive and characterized by the coexpression of three receptors that confer CO2 responses, whereas the other ORNs express characteristic odorant receptors (AgORs) that are responsible for their in vivo olfactory responses.
Conclusions
Our results describe a complete and highly concordant map of both the molecular and cellular olfactory components on the maxillary palp of the adult female An. gambiae mosquito. These results also facilitate the understanding of how An. gambiae mosquitoes sense olfactory cues that might be exploited to compromise their ability to transmit malaria.
