Malaria is a major global health problem where the mosquito Anopheles gambiae s.s. serves as the major vector for the protozoan Plasmodium falciparum. Transmission of this disease is linked to the repeated blood feeding nature of the anautogenous mosquito. Therefore, a strong foundation in understanding the regulation of mosquito blood feeding at the gene expression level is vital for developing efficient vector control strategies. A key component of gene regulation is a small class of RNA molecules termed microRNAs (miRNAs). These small RNAs regulate cellular processes at the post-transcriptional level in multiple metazoans, including mosquitoes, where miRNAs play major roles in reproduction and immunity. In the mosquito, some miRNAs are expressed in numerous tissues, or specifically expressed in one tissue. Tissue-specific miRNAs are a common occurrence across the metazoan taxa, as these small RNAs are believed to help maintain tissue complexity and homeostasis. For this proposal, the overall goal is to explore how miRNAs regulate cellular dynamics in the most important tissue in mosquito reproduction, the ovary. The objective of AIM1 is to decipher ovary-miRNA dynamics during the mosquito?s gonotrophic cycle, more specifically the temporal ovary- (i) miRNA transcriptome and (ii) miRNA-mRNA interactome. The objective of AIM 2 is to determine the functions of ovary-miRNAs with regards to egg development and egg-to-adult progression in the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. Successful completion of these AIMs on how mosquito ovary-miRNA -dynamics and -function control and regulate mosquito reproduction will foster better efforts in the future development of efficient vector control strategies.
Transmission of malaria is intimately linked to the repeated blood feeding nature of the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. Vector biologists know small RNAs, termed microRNAs (miRNAs), are important for mosquito reproduction, but we do not know how miRNAs regulate mosquito-tissue physiology. This application aims to determine miRNA ?dynamics and ?function in the most important tissue in mosquito reproduction, the ovaries.
