Molecular Biology & Hormonal Control
Egg Development and Blood Digestion
Egg development and blood digestion are two important events in the life of female mosquitoes. After taking a blood meal the midgut of the female mosquito synthesizes proteolytic enzymes that hydrolyze the blood proteins into free amino acids that are used as building blocks for the synthesis of egg yolk proteins. Thus, stopping any of these processes may cause arrest of egg development causing sterility.
The biochemistry and molecular biology laboratory in FMEL is studying these processes by isolating and characterizing hormones and digestive enzymes that play an important role in blood digestion and egg development. Several approaches are used:
- Protein and peptide biochemistry.
- Chemical and biochemical characterization of various factors.
- Molecular biology and 3 dimensional molecular modeling of peptide hormones and digestive enzymes.
- Molecular detection by PCR of Eastern Equine Encephalitis and St. Louis Encephalitis viruses that are transmitted with the blood meal.
- Cloning and expression of mosquito hormones in bacteria, viruses and plants.
- Control of mosquito genes that are important in blood digestion and egg development using transgenic mosquitoes.
Using these techniques we have isolated and characterized a mosquito peptide hormone that stops digestion in adults and larvae. The hormone has been named Trypsin Modulating Oostatic Hormone (TMOF), or as we call it in our lab, the "diet pill". Feeding the diet pill to adult mosquitoes prevents them from developing their eggs, whereas feeding the hormone to larvae, starves them to death. Thus, we hope that in the near future we will be able to control mosquito population by treating water with a diet pill.
Contact: Dr. Dov Borovsky
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