Project Summary: Anopheles mosquito blood feeding is facilitated by the pharmacologic and immunologic properties of salivary bioactive molecules which counteract and inhibit host reaction. These bioactive molecules can also strongly influence the salivary gland invasion by Plasmodium and their transmission during the blood feeding by counteracting human host reaction. It has been reported that salivary gland proteins could be influenced by age and infection status of the Anopheles vector. It has also recently been observed that mosquito’s salivary composition can be influenced by insecticide resistance. However, although salivary gland invasion constitutes an essential step of the Plasmodium life cycle in mosquito, the effects of insecticide resistance on the sialome composition and its consequences on the vectorial capacity, remained largely unexplored in natural populations of Anopheles mosquitoes. Thus, in this context and regarding the high increase of insecticide resistance in Anopheles mosquitoes worldwide, the present project aims to:
Aim 1: Investigate the impact of insecticide resistance on the sialome composition of natural populations of malaria vectors;
Aim 2: Assess how these sialome changes impact the Anopheles vectorial capacity by influencing the blood intake process;
Aim 3: Investigate the impact of the sialome changes on the ability of sporozoite to invade salivary glands.
Funding source: Wellcome Trust; Duration: 2016-2019
