Simposio: Eco-Biología de vectores

SIMPOSIO

Eco-biología de vectores

COORDINA: Marcelo LORENZO

Biología de vectores

Este simposio reunirá a autores que representan a cinco países de América Latina, quienes presentarán sus avances recientes en diversos aspectos de la biología de vectores. Cuatro ponentes tienen la intención de participar de manera presencial, mientras que el tercero realizará su presentación de forma remota.

El evento comenzará con una breve introducción de 30 segundos a cargo del coordinador del subcomité, seguida de cinco presentaciones de 15 minutos cada una. Se destinarán dos minutos después de cada ponencia para que el público pueda plantear dudas, comentarios o ideas relacionadas. Finalmente, se dedicarán aproximadamente cuatro minutos al cierre para abordar preguntas comunes o sugerencias generales.

Ecology and changes of mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) species diversity through a heterogeneous gradient in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia 

PERDOMO-BALAGUERA Eric1, MUÑOZ-GAMBA Andrew, 1, USME CIRO, José A. 1 & PARRA-HENAO Gabriel1

1 Centro de Investigación en Salud para el Trópico, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia.
E-mail address: gabriel.parrah@ucc.edu.co 

Studies directed to investigate ecological parameters of sylvatic mosquitoes’ populations permit the establishment of risk levels in the transmission of arboviruses and provide the basis for recommendations to health authorities about prevention, surveillance and control. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of different anthropic landscape profiles on the diversity and distribution of mosquito species in a rural settlement of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, Colombia. Quarterly sampling was done. For mosquito collections, sampling was conducted at three sampling points in three distinct habitats: Sylvatic, forest edge, and rural area. CDC traps, Shannon traps and human landing methods were used. Diversity and abundance indices were calculated. A total of 2,349 individuals, distributed in 13 species of culicids, were collected: Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, Ae. serratus, Psorophora ferox, Ps. confinnis, Johnbelkinia ulopus, Sabethes chloropterus, Sa. cyaneus, Haemagogus janthinomys, Wyeomyia aporonoma, Wy. pseudopecten, Wy. ulocoma and Wy.luteoventralis. The most abundant species were Aedes aegypti (22%), Culex quinquefasciatus (19%), Ae. Serratus (12%) and Psorophora ferox (9%). Rural habitat showed the highest abundance, and forest edge showed the highest species richness. Different types of environments influenced both the abundance and richness of mosquitoes. The species composition was significantly different between the analyzed sites, mainly between forest and rural environments. The finding of Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, Psorophora ferox, Sabethes chloropterus and Haemagogus janthinomys previously reported as arbovirus vectors–warns about the possibility of arbovirus transmission in the zone which has previously experienced outbreaks of Venezuelan equine encephalitis and yellow fever. The observed changes along the sampling gradient may have implications for future establishment of sylvatic vector species in anthropic environments and our results indicated that landscape changes due to community pressures to establish different types of crops and the current pressure due to the construction of tourist structures affect mosquito communities, influencing their richness and abundance. 

Keywords: Mosquito ecology, Arbovirus, Colombia.

Exploring the triatomine-trypanosome interactions

Guarneri, A.A. 

Vector Behavior and Pathogen Interaction Group, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
alessandra.guarneri@fiocruz.br

Triatomines, commonly known as kissing bugs, are hematophagous insects that act as vectors for Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, a significant public health issue in Latin America. Our research has focused on deepening the understanding of the interactions between T. cruzi and their triatomine hosts, with a particular emphasis on physiological and behavioral aspects, as well as in the impact of environmental changes on these interactions. We have demonstrated that T. cruzi epimastigogenesis occurs in the posterior midgut of the insect and its development is mostly at the rectum. The parasite induces significant metabolic alterations and reduces microbiota diversity in the intestinal tract of the insect during the early stages of infection. Changes in microbiota composition also occur in chronic infections. Additionally, T. cruzi infection alters the activity patterns of the vector, decreasing locomotor activity in the absence of host cues. However, in the presence of a host, infected bugs exhibit an increase in approach behavior, which renders them more susceptible to predation compared to uninfected conspecifics. These behavioral changes possibly enhance the transmission rates of the parasite. The pathogenic effects of T. cruzi on the insect host depend on multiple factors, including the parasite strain, infection dose, the insect nutritional state, and environmental temperature. The latter two factors are key modulators of parasite development within the vector. 

Keywords: Triatomine, Trypanosoma, Interaction

Juvenile hormone controls mosquito development and reproduction

NORIEGA, Fernando G1, NOUZOVA, Marcela1.

1 Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
E-mail address: fnoriega@prf.jcu.cz

Juvenile hormone (JH) is an important regulator of development and reproduction in mosquitoes. JH delays metamorphosis until the larvae have reached an appropriate stage and size. At this point, a drop in JH titer enables metamorphosis. Nutritional status, sexual maturity and mating, fitness and stress situations as well as environmental conditions such as circadian rhythms, temperature and day length all influence JH biosynthesis. JH is synthesized by the corpora allata (CA); the CA integrates multiple stimulatory and inhibitory signals to determine the final synthesis rate. We have used CRISPR/Cas9 approaches to generate mosquitoes that completely lack one of the two enzymes that catalyze the final steps of JH biosynthesis. These null mutants lacking JH signaling show striking developmental and reproductive phenotypes, allowing us to investigate the role of JH in controlling mosquito biology.

Keywords: mosquito, hormone, reproduction.

Resumen aún no disponible

Establishment of a data-driven tool to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying host competence in mosquito vectors

MOSQUERA, Katherine D.1, MORETTI, Nilmar S.2, RIOS-VELÁSQUEZ, Claudia M.3, BARRENÄS, Fredrik1,4 & ANKARKLEV, Johan1*

1 Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
2 Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
3 Instituto Leônidas & Maria Deane, Fiocruz Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil.
4 Mavatar Ltd., Stockholm, Sweden.  
E-mail address: johan.ankarklev@su.se

Understanding how mosquitoes respond to infection at the molecular level is essential for controlling the spread of vector-borne diseases. Although genomic resources and transcriptomic datasets have grown rapidly in recent years, our ability to extract meaningful biological insight from them remains constrained by dependence on predefined annotations and conventional gene-by-gene differential expression approaches. To overcome these challenges, this study aims to identify key immune pathways and gene regulatory networks that shape pathogen susceptibility in mosquitoes. For this purpose, we integrate large-scale transcriptomic data with experimental infections involving symbiotic bacteria and malaria parasites. Specifically, we apply an unsupervised, gene network inference method, to a curated dataset of 1,747 transcriptomes from 10 mosquito species and 8 pathogens. These data include a variety of biological contexts, including infection status, immune activation, and tissue-specific responses. In parallel, we generate new RNA-seq datasets from midguts collected at defined timepoints following experimental infections in Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex mosquitoes. Combining public and newly generated data enables the construction of predictive immune modules linked to infection outcomes. By focusing on emergent network structures rather than predefined annotations, this systems-level approach advances mechanistic understanding of mosquito-pathogen interactions. The resulting knowledge can support vector control strategies that target immune bottlenecks or microbial interactions and enable the development of scalable, field-adaptable surveillance tools. Ultimately, this work contributes to efforts in predictive disease ecology, vector population management, and outbreak preparedness under shifting ecological conditions.

Keywords: Vector competence, Mosquito-microbe interactions, Network-based prediction

Créditos de las imágenes utilizadas en esta página web
Aedes dorsalis, imagen por bradenjudson, CC 1.0, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aedes_dorsalis.png) | Las imágenes de las personas miembro de los distintos comités de LA SOVE RELCOV 2025 así como las imágenes de los/as oradores/as fueron provistas por las mismas personas para uso exclusivo en esta página web. Los/as autores/as de estas imágenes se reservan el derecho de uso y reproducción de las mismas.

Cronograma del evento (1)

Jueves 23
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lasove2022@gmail.com lasove2022@gmail.com