In the middle of the swarm: neuromodulation of the auditory function in malaria mosquitoes

疟蚊成群交配。它们用触角状的耳朵通过它们的飞行声来探测交配对象。由于蜂群嘈杂，蚊子的飞行声微弱，蚊子的听觉器官高度敏感和复杂。几年前我们发现，蚊子的耳朵是由一个复杂的神经调节网络控制的，这个网络由大脑释放的神经递质组成，被称为传出系统。这个系统是独一无二的，因为蚊子是唯一一种有听觉传出活动的昆虫。由于蚊子的听觉是蚊子繁殖所必需的，我们假设破坏传出系统可能是蚊子控制的创新目标。在最初的研究期间，我们专注于研究其中的两种神经递质，章鱼胺和血清素，以分析它们在群体环境中的听觉作用以及对蚊子交配的影响。在第二个研究期间，我们希望在这些结果的基础上，更好地了解潜在的基本生物学机制，并探索疟疾控制的意义。我们还将研究广泛支配听神经的抑制性神经递质GABA的听觉作用。我们的目标是全面了解个体神经递质调节蚊子听觉和蜂群行为的作用，以及该系统的紧急特性。我们还将探索特定的工具来破坏蚊子的听觉和群体行为，并模拟对疟疾传播的影响。

Malaria mosquitoes mate in swarms. They use their antennal ears to detect the mating partners through their flight tones. Because the swarm is noisy, and the mosquito flight tones faint, mosquito auditory organs are highly sensitive and complex. We discovered a few years ago that the mosquito ear is innervated by a complex neuromodulatory network of neurotransmitters that are released from the brain, what is called an efferent system. This system is unique as mosquitoes are the only insect where auditory efferent activity has been described. Because mosquito hearing is necessary for mosquito reproduction, we hypothesize that disrupting the efferent system could be an innovative target for mosquito control. In the initial fellowship period, we focused on studying two of there neurotransmitters, octopamine and serotonin, to analyse their auditory roles in the swarm context and the implications for mosquito mating. For the second fellowship period, we would like to build on these results and provide a better understanding of the underlying fundamental biology mechanisms and explore implications for malaria control. We will also study the auditory role of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, which extensively innervates the auditory nerve. We aim at providing a comprehensive understanding of the role of individual neurotransmitters modulating mosquito audition and swarming behaviour and of the emergent properties of the system. We will also explore specific tools to disrupt mosquito audition and swarming behaviour and model the effects on malaria transmission.