Comparative Physiology of Osmoregulation in Mosquitoes

由于它们的吸血习惯，蚊子是令人不安的寄生虫。 对公众有害，也是许多严重疾病的载体。 许多种类的蚊子对健康构成危害， 美国在盐水中繁殖。 在东海岸， 蚊子大量出现在沿海沼泽地， 这是使用和享受海滩和沿海水道所必不可少的。 在西方，耐盐蚊子是非常严重的 病毒性脑炎和心丝虫等疾病。 蚊子的幼虫是水生的。 布拉德利医生正在调查 耐盐蚊子在这种恶劣环境中生存的机制 水生生境 更好地了解使用的机制， 这些蚊子可能使我们能够绕过这些机制和/或 预测蚊子种群的位置，从而减少蚊子数量 人口和指导控制程序的网站， 需要进行干预。 该提案描述了对以下机制的调查： 蚊子幼虫的呼吸调节。“咸水”蚊子幼虫是 广盐性构象异构体的积累，通过有机 血淋巴中的渗透剂。 利用咸水物种库蚊 在tarsalis中，布拉德利博士将检查a）tarsalis的时间过程和模式 在盐度变化过程中的渗透调节，B）的作用， 排泄系统清除或保留低分子渗透物 重量和c）细胞内用于体积和渗透压的渗透压调节剂 调控 系统发育证据表明， 与咸水模式的调节独立出现 两种蚊子。 主要研究者将比较 这些独立谱系所采用的机制。 这些研究 旨在增加我们对 昆虫分类学上的限制性类群中的昆虫调节 栖息在各种各样的可调节的小生境中。

Due to their bloodsucking habits, mosquitoes are disturbing annoyances to the public, as well as being the vectors of many serious diseases. Many of the species of mosquitoes which pose a health hazard in the United States breed in salt water. On the East Coast, saltwater mosquitoes occur in huge numbers in coastal marshes and their control is essential for the use and enjoyment of beaches and coastal waterways. In the West, salt-tolerant mosquitoes are the vectors of very serious diseases such as viral encephalitis and heartworm. The larvae of mosquitoes are aquatic. Dr. Bradley is investigating mechanisms used by salt-tolerant mosquitoes to survive in this harsh aquatic habitat. A better understanding of the mechanisms used by these mosquitoes may enable us to circumvent these mechanisms and/or predict the location of mosquitoes populations, thereby reducing these populations and directing control procedures to the sites where intervention is required. This proposal describe investigations into the mechanisms of osmoregulation in mosquito larvae. "Brackish-water" mosquito larvae are euryhaline osmoconformers by means of the accumulation of organic osmolytes in the hemolymph. Using the brackish-water species Culex tarsalis, Dr. Bradley will examine a) the time course and pattern of osmolyte regulation during changes in salinity, b) the role of the excretory system in eliminating or retaining osmolytes of low molecular weight and c) the osmolytes used intracellularly for volume and osmotic regulation. Phylogenetic evidence indicates that mechanisms associated with the brackish-water pattern of osmoregulation arose independently in two genera of mosquitoes. The Principal Investigator will compare the mechanisms employed by these independent lineages. The studies are designed to increase our understanding of the mechanisms of osmoregulation in a taxonomically restricted group of insects inhabiting a diverse range of osmoregulatory niches.