Cargando…

Antennal sensilla of two female anopheline sibling species with differing host ranges

BACKGROUND: Volatile odors are important sensory inputs that shape the behaviour of insects, including agricultural pests and disease vectors. Anopheles gambiae s.s. is a highly anthropophilic mosquito and is the major vector for human malaria in sub-Sahara Africa, while Anopheles quadriannulatus, l...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Pitts, R Jason, Zwiebel, Laurence J
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2006
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1532926/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16573828
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-5-26
_version_ 1782128948137689088
author Pitts, R Jason
Zwiebel, Laurence J
author_facet Pitts, R Jason
Zwiebel, Laurence J
author_sort Pitts, R Jason
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Volatile odors are important sensory inputs that shape the behaviour of insects, including agricultural pests and disease vectors. Anopheles gambiae s.s. is a highly anthropophilic mosquito and is the major vector for human malaria in sub-Sahara Africa, while Anopheles quadriannulatus, largely due to its zoophilic behaviour, is considered a non-vector species in the same region. Careful studies of olfaction in these sibling species may lead to insights about the mechanisms that drive host preference behaviour. In the present study, the external anatomy of the antenna, the principle olfactory organ in the female mosquito of both species, was examined as an initial step toward more detailed comparisons. METHODS: Scanning electron and light microscopy were used to examine the antennae ultrastructures of adult female An. gambiae s.s. and An. quadriannulatus. Sensory structures, called sensilla, were categorized and counted; their distributions are reported here as well as densities calculated for each species. RESULTS: Both An. gambiae s.s. and An. quadriannulatus bear five classes of sensilla on their antennae: chaetica (bristles), trichodea (hairs), basiconica (pegs), coeloconica (pitted pegs), and ampullacea (pegs in tubes). Female An. quadriannulatus antennae have approximately one-third more sensilla, and a proportionally larger surface area, than female An. gambiae s.s. antennae. CONCLUSION: The same types of sensilla are found on the antennae of both species. While An. quadriannulatus has greater numbers of each sensilla type, sensilla densities are very similar for each species, suggesting that other factors may be more important to such olfactory-driven behaviours as host preference.
format Text
id pubmed-1532926
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2006
publisher BioMed Central
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-15329262006-08-05 Antennal sensilla of two female anopheline sibling species with differing host ranges Pitts, R Jason Zwiebel, Laurence J Malar J Research BACKGROUND: Volatile odors are important sensory inputs that shape the behaviour of insects, including agricultural pests and disease vectors. Anopheles gambiae s.s. is a highly anthropophilic mosquito and is the major vector for human malaria in sub-Sahara Africa, while Anopheles quadriannulatus, largely due to its zoophilic behaviour, is considered a non-vector species in the same region. Careful studies of olfaction in these sibling species may lead to insights about the mechanisms that drive host preference behaviour. In the present study, the external anatomy of the antenna, the principle olfactory organ in the female mosquito of both species, was examined as an initial step toward more detailed comparisons. METHODS: Scanning electron and light microscopy were used to examine the antennae ultrastructures of adult female An. gambiae s.s. and An. quadriannulatus. Sensory structures, called sensilla, were categorized and counted; their distributions are reported here as well as densities calculated for each species. RESULTS: Both An. gambiae s.s. and An. quadriannulatus bear five classes of sensilla on their antennae: chaetica (bristles), trichodea (hairs), basiconica (pegs), coeloconica (pitted pegs), and ampullacea (pegs in tubes). Female An. quadriannulatus antennae have approximately one-third more sensilla, and a proportionally larger surface area, than female An. gambiae s.s. antennae. CONCLUSION: The same types of sensilla are found on the antennae of both species. While An. quadriannulatus has greater numbers of each sensilla type, sensilla densities are very similar for each species, suggesting that other factors may be more important to such olfactory-driven behaviours as host preference. BioMed Central 2006-03-30 /pmc/articles/PMC1532926/ /pubmed/16573828 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-5-26 Text en Copyright © 2006 Pitts and Zwiebel; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research
Pitts, R Jason
Zwiebel, Laurence J
Antennal sensilla of two female anopheline sibling species with differing host ranges
title Antennal sensilla of two female anopheline sibling species with differing host ranges
title_full Antennal sensilla of two female anopheline sibling species with differing host ranges
title_fullStr Antennal sensilla of two female anopheline sibling species with differing host ranges
title_full_unstemmed Antennal sensilla of two female anopheline sibling species with differing host ranges
title_short Antennal sensilla of two female anopheline sibling species with differing host ranges
title_sort antennal sensilla of two female anopheline sibling species with differing host ranges
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1532926/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16573828
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-5-26
work_keys_str_mv AT pittsrjason antennalsensillaoftwofemaleanophelinesiblingspecieswithdifferinghostranges
AT zwiebellaurencej antennalsensillaoftwofemaleanophelinesiblingspecieswithdifferinghostranges