“… 34 Additionally, flagellomere 1 (the most proximal segment) contains only Orco-negative neurons, which likely include the ∼22 Ir93a+ receptor neurons. 20 …”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Current research focuses on the functional analysis of these receptors and creation of mutant mosquitoes targeting individual subunits or chemosensory co-receptors in order to determine their role in mosquito host-searching behavior. 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 Figure 1 Generation and validation of brp-T2A-QF2 w HACK knock-in driver line for pan-neuronal expression in Anopheles coluzzii mosquitoes (A) An. coluzzii female mosquito with chemosensory appendages highlighted.…”
“… 34 Additionally, flagellomere 1 (the most proximal segment) contains only Orco-negative neurons, which likely include the ∼22 Ir93a+ receptor neurons. 20 …”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Current research focuses on the functional analysis of these receptors and creation of mutant mosquitoes targeting individual subunits or chemosensory co-receptors in order to determine their role in mosquito host-searching behavior. 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 Figure 1 Generation and validation of brp-T2A-QF2 w HACK knock-in driver line for pan-neuronal expression in Anopheles coluzzii mosquitoes (A) An. coluzzii female mosquito with chemosensory appendages highlighted.…”
“…Previous studies in Drosophila melanogaster have identified thermosensitive sensory structures and neurons activated by diverse thermoreceptors and ion channels (Figure 4A) ( 31, 34, 42–46 ). In mosquitoes, prior studies identified a set of thermosensitive neurons at the most distal antennal segment that responded to cooling or heating air (Figure 4B, C) ( 24, 25, 47–49 ). Since Orco is expressed in the antenna, we hypothesized that loss of Orco may directly affect the function of thermosensitive neurons at the antennal tip.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…(A-C) Sensory organs, genes, and experimental evidence for intrinsically thermosensitive neurons currently known in adult Drosophila melanogaster ( 31, 34, 42–46 ) (A), Anopheles gambiae ( 24, 25, 49 ) (B), and Aedes aegypti ( 25, 47, 48 ) (C). (D) Schematic of antennal tip removal, with distal three segments cut from both antennae.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Ir76b mutants remain attracted to humans despite losing their ability to feed on blood ( 23 ). Ir21a and Ir93b mutants experience reduced heat and humidity-seeking behavior but maintain their overall attraction to humans ( 24, 25 ). The recent discovery of extensive co-expression of ORs and IRs in single sensory neurons may explain this functional redundancy ( 26, 27 ).…”
Sensory compensation is a process that allows individuals with a loss of one sense, for instance hearing or vision, to adapt to changes in their sensory abilities. Where this phenomenon has been observed, there is enhanced perception by another sense to compensate for deficiency of the lost sense. Such compensation is important for humans and non-human animals that use multisensory integration for effective navigation and the execution of vital tasks. Among these, female mosquitoes are sensory specialists that rely heavily on integrating multiple human-emitted cues in their quest for a suitable host to obtain a blood meal. Here, we identify a previously undescribed mechanism of sensory compensation in female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Mutant mosquitoes lacking the odorant receptor co-receptor Orco show specific enhancement in heat-seeking behavior. This sensory compensation does not require the antenna, which was previously assumed to be the primary mosquito thermosensitive organ. Instead, we found that the tips of the forelegs are required to detect heat, and that the heightened sensitivity in heat detection is mediated by increased neuronal activity in foreleg sensory neurons, which are distant from the head appendage neurons that express Orco. By comparative gene expression analysis in wildtype and Orco mutant legs, we identify Ir140, a foreleg-enriched member of the Ionotropic Receptor (IR) superfamily of sensory receptors, as strongly upregulated in Orco mutant legs. Emphasizing the important role of IRs in thermosensation, we find that mutant mosquitoes lacking the IR co-receptor, Ir25a, lose all responses to heat, and Ir140 mutants show strong deficits in responding to human skin temperatures. We generated an Ir140, Orco double mutant and show that these animals lose the remarkable sensory compensation seen in Orco mutants. This strongly suggests that upregulation of Ir140 in the foreleg is the mechanism of sensory compensation in Orco mutants. Odorant receptor expression is sparse in legs, suggesting an indirect, long-range mechanism of sensory compensation. Our findings reveal a novel compensatory mechanism in which loss of one sensory modality in female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes results in greater sensitivity in another to maintain the overall effectiveness of their host-seeking behavior, further enhancing their status as the most dangerous predator of humans.
Biomimetic humidity sensors offer a low‐power approach for respiratory monitoring in early lung‐disease diagnosis. However, balancing miniaturization and energy efficiency remains challenging. This study addresses this issue by introducing a bioinspired humidity‐sensing neuron comprising a self‐assembled peptide nanowire (NW) memristor with unique proton‐coupled ion transport. The proposed neuron shows a low Ag+ activation energy owing to the NW and redox activity of the tyrosine (Tyr)‐rich peptide in the system, facilitating ultralow electric‐field–driven threshold switching and a high energy efficiency. Additionally, Ag+ migration in the system can be controlled by a proton source owing to the hydrophilic nature of the phenolic hydroxyl group in Tyr, enabling the humidity‐based control of the conductance state of the memristor. Furthermore, a memristor‐based neuromorphic perception neuron that can encode humidity signals into spikes is proposed. The spiking characteristics of this neuron can be modulated to emulate the strength‐modulated spike‐frequency characteristics of biological neurons. A three‐layer spiking neural network with input neurons comprising these highly tunable humidity perception neurons shows an accuracy of 92.68% in lung‐disease diagnosis. This study paves the way for developing bioinspired self‐assembly strategies to construct neuromorphic perception systems, bridging the gap between artificial and biological sensing and processing paradigms.
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