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

论文研究：类胰岛素肽在疟原虫感染的蚊子行为中的作用

• 批准号: 1310194
• 负责人: Shirley Luckhart
• 金额: $ 1.84万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-07-01 至 2015-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1310194&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; role; insulin; like

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.

摘要：类似胰岛素的肽家族控制着整个动物界的各种生物学功能。在昆虫中，胰岛素样肽最常被称为行为的介体。该研究项目旨在了解疟原虫感染期间产生的胰岛素样肽如何影响感染蚊子的行为。 疟原虫感染期间的蚊子行为会严重影响到人类宿主的传播。因此，该项目将分析在转基因蚊子模型中的饲料，一般活动和温度，包括但不限于喂食，一般活动和温度。这些实验将确定胰岛素样肽是否通过改变蚊子中的基本行为过程来增加对人宿主的疟疾寄生虫传播中的潜在作用。许多昆虫传播的寄生虫（例如疟疾）主要影响贫穷的社区，几乎没有可用的资源来对抗它们。因此，推断这项研究的发现来控制蚊子的野生种群的行为，可能会增强此类地区的传输控制工作。 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来增强下一代科学家的培训。