DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The role of insulin-like peptides in the behavior of malaria parasite-infected mosquitoes

摘要：类胰岛素肽家族控制着动物界的多种生物功能。在昆虫中，胰岛素样肽通常被认为是行为的介质。该研究项目旨在了解疟疾寄生虫感染过程中产生的胰岛素样肽如何影响被感染蚊子的行为。在疟疾寄生虫感染期间，蚊子的行为可以极大地影响向人类宿主的传播。因此，该项目将分析转基因蚊子模型的行为，包括但不限于进食、一般活动和温度寻找。这些实验将确定胰岛素样肽是否通过改变蚊子的基本行为过程，在增加疟疾寄生虫向人类宿主传播方面发挥潜在作用。疟疾等许多虫媒寄生虫主要影响那些可用资源很少的贫困社区。因此，根据本研究的结果来控制野生蚊子种群的行为可能会加强这些地区的传播控制工作。此外，这项研究还将促进行为生物学家、分子生物学家和生态学家之间的跨学科合作，同时通过促进本科生的参与，加强对下一代科学家的培训。

ABSTRACT: The insulin-like family of peptides controls a wide variety of biological functions across the animal kingdom. In insects, insulin-like peptides are most commonly known as mediators of behavior. This research project seeks to understand how insulin-like peptides produced during malaria parasite infection affect the behavior of infected mosquitoes. Mosquito behavior during malaria parasite infection can drastically affect transmission to human hosts. As such, the project will analyze behaviors including but not limited to feeding, general activity, and temperature seeking in a genetically modified mosquito model. These experiments will determine whether insulin-like peptides play a potential role in increasing malaria parasite transmission to human hosts by altering essential behavioral processes in mosquitoes. Many insect-borne parasites such as malaria primarily affect impoverished communities with few available resources to combat them. Therefore, extrapolating the findings of this research to control the behavior of wild populations of mosquitoes may enhance transmission control efforts in such areas. Furthermore, the research will also foster interdisciplinary collaborations between behavioral biologists, molecular biologists, and ecologists while enhancing training for the next generation of scientists by promoting the participation of undergraduate students.