Genomic Analysis of Aedes aegypti Host Preference Across Urban-Rural Gradients in Africa

项目摘要 该项目的目标是了解重要的疾病媒介埃及伊蚊的种群是如何 应对撒哈拉以南非洲的快速城市化。拟议的工作旨在1）在现场进行测试 在布基纳法索的瓦加杜古和加纳的库马西等快速发展的城市， 在附近的农村地区，与寻找宿主的雌性相比，对人类宿主表现出更大的吸引力; 2）识别 驱动这种行为转变的特定基因。这项工作的基础是我最近发表的发现， 的实验室菌落。在人口密集的城市地区定居的埃及人更喜欢人类宿主， 比在撒哈拉以南非洲的农村地区建立的实验室殖民地更好;这些行为转变 与几个关键染色体区域的遗传差异有关。基于联合建模 联合国对城市增长的预测表明，这些影响将在未来30年内急剧增加。 年我将使用成对的捕蚊器，以人类和非人类动物的气味为诱饵， 在瓦加杜古和库马西的城市-农村梯度上， 现有的合作。在使用分子条形码方法的平行分析中，我将分离血液喂养的 将个体分成选择人类或非人类动物宿主的集合，并确定宿主的差异是否 偏好转化为对人类宿主的取食率差异。使用低覆盖率的全基因组 通过对这两个集合中的蚊子进行测序，我将同时确定基因组的变化， 这种城乡梯度，并确定参与驱动主机偏好的个体差异的特定基因。 这项工作将阐明病媒种群迅速变化的原因和进化机制， 并为监测和预防蚊媒疾病的出现和传播提供关键工具， 高风险地区。

Project Summary The goal of this project is to understand how populations of the important disease vector Aedes aegypti are responding to rapid urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa. The proposed work is designed to 1) test in the field whether host-seeking females in the rapidly growing cities of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Kumasi, Ghana show greater attraction to human hosts than host-seeking females in nearby rural areas and 2) to identify the specific genes driving this behavioral shift. The proposed work builds on my recently published finding that laboratory colonies of Ae. aegypti established from dense urban areas were more attracted to human hosts than laboratory colonies established from nearby rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa; these behavioral shifts were associated with genetic differences in a few key chromosomal regions. Modeling based on United Nations projections of urban growth suggested that these effects will increase dramatically in the next 30 years. I will use paired mosquito traps baited with human and non-human animal odors to test preference for human hosts across urban-rural gradients in Ouagadougou and Kumasi, building on productive and pre- existing collaborations. In a parallel analysis using a molecular barcoding approach, I will separate blood-fed individuals into sets that chose human or non-human animal hosts, and determine whether differences in host preference translate into differences in rates of feeding on human hosts. Using low-coverage whole genome sequencing of mosquitoes from both of these collections, I will simultaneously identify genomic shifts across this urban-rural gradient and identify specific genes involved in driving individual differences in host preference. This work will clarify the causes and evolutionary mechanisms underlying rapid changes in vector populations, and provide key tools for monitoring and preventing the emergence and spread of mosquito-borne disease in high-risk regions.