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Aedes aegypti mosquitoes detect acidic volatiles found in human odor using the IR8a pathway

Raj, Joshua I. ; Melo, Nadia LU ; Castillo, John S. ; Gonzalez, Sheyla ; Saldana, Valeria ; Stensmyr, Marcus LU and DeGennaro, Matthew (2019) In Current biology : CB 29(8). p.1253-1262
Abstract
Mosquitoes use olfaction as a primary means of detecting their hosts. Previously, the functional ablation of a family of Aedes aegypti olfactory receptors, the odorant receptors (ORs), was not sufficient to reduce host seeking in the presence of carbon dioxide (CO2). This suggests the olfactory receptors that remain, such as the ionotropic receptors (IRs), could play a significant role in host detection. To test this, we disrupted the Ir8a co-receptor in Ae. aegypti using CRISPR/Cas9. We found that Ir8a mutant female mosquitoes are not attracted to lactic acid, a behaviorally active component of human sweat, and they lack odor-evoked responses to acidic volatiles. The loss of Ir8a reduces mosquito attraction to humans and their odor. We... (More)
Mosquitoes use olfaction as a primary means of detecting their hosts. Previously, the functional ablation of a family of Aedes aegypti olfactory receptors, the odorant receptors (ORs), was not sufficient to reduce host seeking in the presence of carbon dioxide (CO2). This suggests the olfactory receptors that remain, such as the ionotropic receptors (IRs), could play a significant role in host detection. To test this, we disrupted the Ir8a co-receptor in Ae. aegypti using CRISPR/Cas9. We found that Ir8a mutant female mosquitoes are not attracted to lactic acid, a behaviorally active component of human sweat, and they lack odor-evoked responses to acidic volatiles. The loss of Ir8a reduces mosquito attraction to humans and their odor. We show that the CO2-detection pathway is necessary but not sufficient for IR8a to detect human odor. Our study reveals that the IR8a pathway is crucial for an anthropophilic vector mosquito to effectively seek hosts. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Current biology : CB
volume
29
issue
8
pages
1253 - 1262
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85064328009
ISSN
1879-0445
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.045
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b63bbbc5-3e92-4144-beaf-5ae22c5571d1
date added to LUP
2022-06-14 11:04:26
date last changed
2022-11-13 04:15:21
@article{b63bbbc5-3e92-4144-beaf-5ae22c5571d1,
  abstract     = {{Mosquitoes use olfaction as a primary means of detecting their hosts. Previously, the functional ablation of a family of Aedes aegypti olfactory receptors, the odorant receptors (ORs), was not sufficient to reduce host seeking in the presence of carbon dioxide (CO2). This suggests the olfactory receptors that remain, such as the ionotropic receptors (IRs), could play a significant role in host detection. To test this, we disrupted the Ir8a co-receptor in Ae. aegypti using CRISPR/Cas9. We found that Ir8a mutant female mosquitoes are not attracted to lactic acid, a behaviorally active component of human sweat, and they lack odor-evoked responses to acidic volatiles. The loss of Ir8a reduces mosquito attraction to humans and their odor. We show that the CO2-detection pathway is necessary but not sufficient for IR8a to detect human odor. Our study reveals that the IR8a pathway is crucial for an anthropophilic vector mosquito to effectively seek hosts.}},
  author       = {{Raj, Joshua I. and Melo, Nadia and Castillo, John S. and Gonzalez, Sheyla and Saldana, Valeria and Stensmyr, Marcus and DeGennaro, Matthew}},
  issn         = {{1879-0445}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{1253--1262}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Current biology : CB}},
  title        = {{Aedes aegypti mosquitoes detect acidic volatiles found in human odor using the IR8a pathway}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.045}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.045}},
  volume       = {{29}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}