Olfactory and behavioral responses of kissing bugs (Reduviidae: Triatominae), vec

描述(申请人提供)：三叶虫，俗称接吻虫，文丘卡，奇波，巴贝罗，是吸血昆虫，原生动物寄生虫锥虫的媒介，恰加斯病的病原体。这种疾病在墨西哥、中美洲和南美洲流行，影响大约1100-1300万人。恰加斯病的控制主要取决于通过使用残留杀虫剂消除病媒，以及对血库中感染毛滴虫的情况进行筛查。阻断恰加斯病的媒介传播需要持续的昆虫学监测，即使在国内媒介正在被消灭或已经被消灭的国家，因为许多野生动物充当宿主，许多可能被寄居的三叶虫物种传播这种寄生虫。通过主动检测昆虫存在的方法，例如使用气味诱捕器，可以有效地实现监测。这种方法将允许在采取干预措施之前有效地监测房屋中是否有昆虫存在。此外，在某些情况下(例如，在昆虫种群密度低的情况下)，使用诱捕器可有助于控制努力，从而减少不受欢迎的杀虫剂的使用。三叶虫主要依靠嗅觉线索来寻找它们的宿主。对这些昆虫的嗅觉系统的生理和作用的研究将提供可用于开发气味诱捕器的知识。开发这些监测和控制工具的第一步是识别诱人的动物气味的化学成分。我们将使用气相色谱(GC)和嗅觉感受器细胞(ORCS)的电生理记录相结合的方法来表征查加斯病的主要媒介之一--多年生红景天(Rhodnius Prolixus)嗅觉系统检测到的自然宿主气味的化学成分。此外，我们将把这项技术与来自触角叶(AL；昆虫的主要嗅觉中心)神经元的多通道电生理记录结合起来。这项最先进的技术(我们已经在我们的实验室成功使用)将使我们能够探索气味信息在AL中是如何表示的。此外，由于兽人神经元高度会聚到AL神经元，因此在嗅觉处理的这个中央水平上，神经对气味的反应是高度敏感的，AL记录将使我们能够高效和高灵敏度地检测自然气味的活性成分。我们将使用气质联用(GC-MS)鉴定活性化合物，这也是我们实验室建立的一项技术。在鉴定出生物活性气味后，我们将开发具有吸引力的合成气味混合物。为了做到这一点，将通过AL神经元的电生理记录和使用双选择嗅觉仪的行为分析来评估不同混合物的效率。利用脑神经元的记录结合分析化学技术来识别有效的引诱剂混合物是一种新颖的方法，我们的实验室正在开发这种方法。最终，高效的化学引诱剂可以作为诱捕器的诱饵，用于灵敏地检测和诱捕房屋内或周围的三聚氰胺。公共卫生相关性：三甲虫是恰加斯病的吸血媒介，查加斯病是一种寄生性感染，影响美洲1100多万人。完全和持续地阻断这些昆虫的疾病传播需要改进昆虫学监测，这可以通过主动使用自然引诱剂(例如寄主气味)来检测昆虫的存在的方法(例如气味诱捕器)有效地实现。我们建议使用神经生理学、分析化学和行为学的方法来鉴定该疾病的主要媒介之一--多年生红蜘蛛所使用的气味引诱剂，以寻找其宿主，并将其用作诱捕剂。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Triatomine bugs, commonly known as kissing bugs, vinchuca, chipo, barbeiro, are blood-sucking insects, vectors of the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas Disease. This Disease is endemic in Mexico, Central and South America and affects about 11-13 million people. Control of Chagas Disease depends mainly on the elimination of vectors through use of residual insecticides and screening of blood banks for infection with T. cruzi. Interruption of vectorial transmission of Chagas Disease requires continuous entomological surveillance even in countries where the domestic vectors are in the process of being eliminated or have been eliminated because many wild animals act as reservoir hosts and many species of triatominae that could become domiciliated transmit the parasite. Surveillance could be effectively achieved by methods that actively detect the presence of insects, e.g. using odor-baited traps. Such methods would allow efficient monitoring of houses for the presence of the insects prior to application of intervention measures. In addition, the use of traps could contribute to control efforts under certain circumstances (e.g., under conditions of low insect population density), thus reducing the use of undesirable insecticides. Triatomine insects rely mainly on olfactory cues to find their hosts. Studies of the physiology and role of the olfactory system of these insects will provide knowledge that could be used to develop odor-baited traps. An initial step to develop these surveillance and control tools is to identify the chemical constituents of the attractive animal odors. We will use gas chromatography (GC) coupled to electrophysiological recording from olfactory receptor cells (ORCs) to characterize the chemical constituents of natural host odors that are detected by the olfactory system of Rhodnius prolixus, one of the main vectors of Chagas Disease. Moreover, we will couple this technique to multi-channel electrophysiological recordings from neurons in the antennal lobe (AL; the insect's primary olfactory center). This state-of-the-art technique (which we have been using successfully in our laboratory) will allow us to probe how odor information is represented in the AL. Moreover, because neural responses to odors at this central level of olfactory processing are highly sensitive owing to the high degree of convergence of ORCs into AL neurons, AL recordings will allow us to detect active constituents of natural odors efficiently and with high sensitivity. We will identify the active compounds using GC coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS), a technique also established in our laboratory. After identifying bioactive odors, we will develop attractive blends of synthetic odorants. To accomplish this, the efficiency of different blends will be evaluated by means of electrophysiological recordings of AL neurons and behavioral assays using dual-choice olfactometers. The use of recordings from brain neurons coupled to analytical chemical techniques to identify efficient attractant blends is novel and is being developed in our laboratory. Ultimately, efficient chemical attractants could serve as lures in traps for sensitive detection and trapping of triatomines in or around houses. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Triatomine bugs are blood-sucking vectors of Chagas Disease, a parasitic infection that affects more than 11 million people in the Americas. Complete and continuous interruption of disease transmission by these insects requires improvement of entomological surveillance, which could be effectively achieved by methods (e.g. odor-baited traps) that use natural attractants (e.g. host-odors) actively to detect the presence of the insects. We propose to use neurophysiological, analytical chemical, and behavioral methods to identify odor attractants used by Rhodnius prolixus, one of the main vectors of the disease, to find its hosts and that can be used as trap lures.