How genetics of fruit flies can change the fight against mosquito diseases

The method of associated fruit flies may be the key to limiting the spread of diseases by mosquitoes.

In a new study, scientists from the University of Iowa discovered a gene that coordinates the movements of the tentacles of female fruit flies, which is of key importance for them when detecting a unique sound made by potential male partners. Scientists from Iowa claim that this gene occurs in mosquitoes and can be calm it, which would theoretically reduce the chances of joining steam, and thus limit the growth of mosquito population.

Mosquitoes are well -known vectors of many diseases affecting human health. In the United States, these diseases include the Western Nile virus, east encephalitis of horses and Zika. Female mosquito transfers these diseases among animals and people, biting them, taking blood contaminated with a pathogenic germ, which can then be transferred to other people in subsequent bites.

Mosquitoes actually have a very similar mechanism for fruit flies, consisting of active tuning, which can affect the stopping of many diseases. Therefore, understanding how fruit flies and mosquitoes not only combine, but also hear, can be important for human health. “

Daniel Eberl, a professor at the Faculty of Biology in Iowa and author corresponding with the study

Scientists used tiny microphones to capture sound when the fruit flies species flip through the wings. It is vibrations, i.e. impulses, in the air resulting from the wing impact, they are captured by the tentacles of female fruit flies and signal the presence of a male. The tentle of the female fruit bow tie can be compared to the sensory organ, which “hears” vibrations like the human ear.

Interestingly, not every song about courtship is the same.

“I think that for us the key issue is that the songs they sing differ slightly in the case of closely related genres,” says Eberl. “The spacing between impulses is different for each species. And that’s why it is important because they want to be associated with a partner of their own species. The song helps them recognize the same species. “

Biologists know that female flies tune their tentacles to a frequency similar to the sound range emitted by a male similar species. However, they did not know how exactly this tuning took place and where specifically.

Scientists from Iów examined the hearing of the well -known and long -tested species of fruit bow tie. In particular, they examined the organ of Johnston Mucha located in the antenna and the place where the sound is detected. In the Johnston’s organ, they discovered and examined the path called the potassium ion channel, which stimulates the neurons responsible for the hearing of the flies. By conducting further research, they learned that the gene called Shal is a kind of guardian of the ion channel, deciding when external sounds or movements are transformed into electrical signals, which are then transmitted between neurons. This cascade of events, managed by Gen Shal, seemed necessary that the fly could hear her.

Then the scientists canceled Gen Shal to confirm his role in tuning the female’s antennas, and thus her hearing.

“Without a gene, Shal loses his ability to tune,” says Eli Gregory, a student of human physiology at Cedar Rapids, who conducted experiments with gene deletion. “The female loses the ability to tune the antenna into this frequency. Therefore, a lower response is obtained when covering from this female. “

Mosquitoes use a similar method in their rituals.

This means that “this gene or potassium canal could be eliminated and preventing mosquitoes from such effective pairing, which could mean less mosquitoes, and thus less problems for human health,” says Eberl.

The test“The Shal (KV4) potassium channel (KV4) with a voltage contributes to the active hearing at Drosophil” – published on the Internet on December 17 in the public journal Society for Neuroscience.

The co-authors of the study are Mei-Ling Joiner, scientific assistant and assistant professor at the Faculty of Biology in Iowa; and Yifeng XU, Tai-Ting Lee, Azus Kamikouchi and Matthew Su from the University of Nagoya in Japan.

The research was financed by the American National Science Foundation, Bachelor’s Research Office of the University of Iowa, scholarships JSPS Invitational Fellowships for Research in Japan, University of Nagoya and the Forest program of the Japanese Science and Technology Agency.