Elevation of dopamine level reduces hostseeking activity in the adult female mosquito Aedes albopictus
Background: Mosquito-borne viruses are transmitted to human hosts via blood-feeding behavior of female mosquitoes. Female mosquitoes seek a host to take blood meals (host-seeking behavior). In order to prevent virus infections, it is important to understand how they modulate host-seeking behavior....
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
Parasites & Vectors
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10246/1/Elevation%20of%20dopamine%20level%20reduces%20host-seeking%20activity%20in%20the%20adult%20female%20mosquito%20Aedes%20albopictus%20%28abstract%29.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10246/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224938134_Elevation_of_dopamine_level_reduces_host-seeking_activity_in_the_adult_female_mosquito_Aedes_albopictus |
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| Summary: | Background: Mosquito-borne viruses are transmitted to human hosts via blood-feeding behavior of female
mosquitoes. Female mosquitoes seek a host to take blood meals (host-seeking behavior). In order to prevent
virus infections, it is important to understand how they modulate host-seeking behavior. Dopamine (DA) in
the central nervous system acts as a neuromediator that regulates a variety of behaviors in insects. In female
mosquitoes, host-seeking behavior increases when DA levels in the head decline after emergence. However, it
remains unclear whether DA directly modulates host-seeking behavior in female mosquitoes. The aim of this
study was to examine whether changes in DA levels in the head affects host-seeking activity in the adult
female mosquito Aedes albopictus (Ae. albopictus).
Findings: We compared host-seeking behavior in one group of emerging female adults treated with
L-β-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA), the precursor of DA, (L-DOPA group), with that in an untreated
control (control group) after confirming elevation of head DA in L-DOPA group by using high-performance
liquid chromatography. The content of head DA in L-DOPA group significantly remained higher than that in
controls on all days examined. The host-seeking activity in the control group showed a gradual increase over
the 6-day experimental period. In contrast, there was no such increase in the host-seeking activity in the
L-DOPA group. Therefore, the host-seeking activity of L-DOPA group was significantly lower than that of the
controls between day 3 and 6 post-emergence.
Conclusion: Our results indicate that elevation of DA level reduces host-seeking activity in adult female
mosquito Ae. albopictus. |
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