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

描述（由申请方提供）：锥蝽，通常称为吻蝽、vinchuca、chipo、barbeiro，是吸血昆虫，是原生动物寄生虫克氏锥虫的载体，克氏锥虫是恰加斯病的病原体。这种疾病在墨西哥、中美洲和南美洲流行，影响约1100万至1300万人。南美锥虫病的控制主要依赖于通过使用残留杀虫剂和筛查血库中的锥虫感染来消灭病媒。克鲁兹要阻断南美锥虫病的媒介传播，就需要进行持续的昆虫学监测，即使在正在消除或已经消除国内媒介的国家也是如此，因为许多野生动物是储存宿主，而许多锥蝽亚科物种可能成为寄生虫，从而传播寄生虫。可以通过主动检测昆虫存在的方法，例如使用气味诱捕器，有效地实现监测。这种方法将允许在应用干预措施之前有效地监测房屋中昆虫的存在。此外，在某些情况下（例如，在昆虫种群密度低的条件下），从而减少不需要的杀虫剂的使用。锥蝽昆虫主要依靠嗅觉线索来寻找它们的宿主。对这些昆虫嗅觉系统的生理学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确定有吸引力的动物气味的化学成分。我们将使用气相色谱法（GC）耦合到嗅觉受体细胞（ORC）的电生理记录来表征由查加斯病的主要载体之一Rhodnius prolixus的嗅觉系统检测到的天然宿主气味的化学成分。此外，我们将把这项技术与触角叶（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。这种最先进的技术（我们已经在我们的实验室中成功地使用）将使我们能够探测气味信息如何在AL中表示。此外，由于在嗅觉处理的这个中枢水平对气味的神经反应是高度敏感的，这是由于ORC高度收敛到AL神经元，AL记录将使我们能够有效地和高灵敏度地检测天然气味的活性成分。我们将使用GC-质谱联用（GC-MS）来鉴定活性化合物，这也是我们实验室建立的一种技术。在确定生物活性气味后，我们将开发有吸引力的合成气味混合物。为了实现这一点，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测定来评估不同混合物的效率。使用大脑神经元的记录，结合分析化学技术，以确定有效的引诱剂混合物是新颖的，正在我们的实验室开发。最终，有效的化学引诱剂可以作为陷阱中的诱饵，用于灵敏地检测和捕获房屋内或房屋周围的锥蝽。公共卫生相关性：锥蝽是查加斯病的吸血媒介，查加斯病是一种寄生虫感染，影响了美洲1100多万人。完全和连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天然引诱剂（例如宿主气味）来检测昆虫存在的方法（例如气味诱饵诱捕器）来有效地实现。我们建议使用神经生理学，分析化学和行为学的方法来确定气味引诱剂使用的Rhodnius prolixus，疾病的主要载体之一，找到其主机，可以用作陷阱诱饵。

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.