Metabolic balancing by miR-276 shapes the mosquito reproductive cycle and <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> development

Lampe, Lena; Jentzsch, Marius; Levashina, Elena A.

doi:10.1101/548784

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…In preparation for reproduction, anautogenous female mosquitoes must ingest vertebrate blood to improve their energy status and to stimulate vitellogenesis. This induces massive mobilization of lipids from the fat body to the ovaries where they serve as the principle energy source for the maturing oocytes and the developing embryos [1][2][3]. As bloodmeals are required in every gonotrophic cycle, this has made mosquitoes ideal vectors of blood-borne pathogens such as the malaria parasites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Inside the mosquito midgut lumen, red blood cell membranes are broken down, and hemoglobin and other proteins of the blood and serum are digested into amino acids, chiefly through the action of bloodmeal-induced trypsin-like and other proteases. Amino acids are then used for protein and fatty acid biosynthesis from reduced carbon atoms [3,4]. Specifically, carbon skeletons of amino acids are converted to pyruvate, acetyl CoA, or one of TCA cycle intermediates, which in turn are used for energy production through gluconeogenesis or converted to dietary triacylglycerols (TAGs).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anopheles coluzziistearoyl-CoA desaturase is essential for adult female survival and reproduction upon blood feeding

Ferdous

Fuchs

Behrends

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Vitellogenesis and oocyte maturation require anautogenous female Anopheles mosquitoes to obtain a bloodmeal from a vertebrate host. The bloodmeal is rich in proteins that are readily broken down into amino acids in the midgut lumen and absorbed by the midgut epithelial cells where they are converted into lipids and then transported to other tissues including ovaries. The stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) plays a pivotal role in this process by converting saturated (SFAs) to unsaturated (UFAs) fatty acids; the latter being essential for maintaining cell membrane fluidity amongst other housekeeping functions. Here, we report the functional and phenotypic characterization of SCD1 in the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles coluzzii. We show that RNA interference (RNAi) silencing of SCD1 and administration of sterculic acid (SA), a small molecule inhibitor of SCD1, significantly impact on the survival and reproduction of female mosquitoes following blood feeding. Microscopic observations reveal that the mosquito thorax is quickly filled with blood, a phenomenon likely caused by the collapse of midgut epithelial cell membranes, and that epithelial cells are depleted of lipid droplets and oocytes fail to mature. Transcriptional profiling shows that genes involved in protein, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism and immunity-related genes are the most affected by SCD1 knock down (KD) in blood-fed mosquitoes. Metabolic profiling reveals that these mosquitoes exhibit increased amounts of saturated fatty acids and TCA cycle intermediates, highlighting the biochemical framework by which the SCD1 KD phenotype manifests as a result of a detrimental metabolic syndrome. Accumulation of SFAs is also the likely cause of the potent immune response observed in the absence of infection, which resembles an auto-inflammatory condition. These data provide insights into mosquito bloodmeal metabolism and lipid homeostasis and could inform efforts to develop novel interventions against mosquito-borne diseases.ClustalW and protein prediction was done using the SMART Package (http://smart.emblheidelberg.de/). Pathway analysis of transcriptomic and metabolomic data was performed using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). DsRNA preparation and gene silencingGene-specific double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) was synthesized and injected as described [12]. Briefly, SCD1-specific oligonucleotide primers flanked at their 5′ end by T7 RNA polymerase promoter sequence (SCD1-RNAi-F: taatacgactcactataggg-AAATGTGATTGCCTTCGGT; SCD1-RNAi-R: taatacgactcactataggg-GCGAGAAGAAGAAGCCAC) were used in PCR reactions on total RNA extracted from 10 sugar-fed adult female mosquitoes using the TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen). DsRNA was synthesized using the T7 MEGAscript kit (Invitrogen) and the PCR product was purified using the RNeasy kit (QIAGEN). DsRNA for the control LacZ gene was synthesized as reported [13]. Gene silencing was accomplished by injection of 69 nL (3 ug/uL) of dsRNA into the mesothoracic spiracle of each carbon dioxide-anesthetized 0-2-day old female mo...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anopheles coluzziistearoyl-CoA desaturase is essential for adult female survival and reproduction upon blood feeding

Ferdous

Fuchs

Behrends

et al. 2020

Preprint

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First Report of Aleurocanthus spiniferus on Ailanthus altissima: Profiling of the Insect Microbiome and MicroRNAs

Bubici

Prigigallo

Garganese

et al. 2020

Insects

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We report the first occurrence of the orange spiny whitefly (Aleurocanthus spiniferus; OSW) on the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) in Bari, Apulia region, Italy. After our first observation in 2016, the infestation recurred regularly during the following years and expanded to the neighboring trees. Since then, we have also found the insect on numerous patches of the tree of heaven and other plant species in the Bari province. Nevertheless, the tree of heaven was not particularly threatened by the insect, so that a possible contribution by OSW for the control of such an invasive plant cannot be hypothesized hitherto. This work was also aimed at profiling the microbiome of OSW feeding on A. altissima. For this purpose, we used the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and the deep sequencing of small RNAs (sRNAs). Both techniques unveiled the presence of “Candidatus Portiera” (primary endosymbiont), Wolbachia sp. and Rickettsia sp., endosymbionts already reported for other Aleyrodidae. Deep sequencing data were analyzed by four computational pipelines in order to understand the reliability of the detection of fungi, bacteria, and viruses: Kraken, Kaiju, Velvet, and VelvetOptimiser. Some contigs assembled by Velvet or VelvetOptimiser were associated with insects, but not necessarily in the Aleurocanthus genus or Aleyrodidae family, suggesting the non-specificity of sRNAs or possible traces of parasitoids in the sample (e.g., Eretmocerus sp.). Finally, deep sequencing data were used to describe the microtranscriptome of OSW: 56 canonical and at least four high-confidence novel microRNAs (miRNAs) were identified. The overall miRNA abundance in OSW was in agreement with previous works on Bemisia tabaci, and bantam-3p, miR-276a-3p, miR-317-3p, miR-750-3p, and mir-8-3p were the most represented miRNAs.

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Metabolic balancing by miR-276 shapes the mosquito reproductive cycle and Plasmodium falciparum development

Cited by 2 publications

References 49 publications

Anopheles coluzziistearoyl-CoA desaturase is essential for adult female survival and reproduction upon blood feeding

Anopheles coluzziistearoyl-CoA desaturase is essential for adult female survival and reproduction upon blood feeding

First Report of Aleurocanthus spiniferus on Ailanthus altissima: Profiling of the Insect Microbiome and MicroRNAs

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