AJTMH HINARI
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 56(4), 1997, pp. 446-451
Copyright © 1997 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gorman, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Paskewitz, S. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gorman, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Paskewitz, S. M.

A Genetic Study of a Melanization Response to Sephadex Beads in Plasmodium-Refractory and -Susceptible Strains of Anopheles gambiae

Maureen J. Gorman AND Susan M. Paskewitz
Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

A previously selected Plasmodium-refractory strain of Anopheles gambiae melanotically encapsulates many species of Plasmodium. Genetic studies of this strain have shown that this refractory phenotype is controlled by a limited number of genes, and the existence of two such genes, Pif-B and Pif-C, has been demonstrated. Further work to determine the molecular basis for this mode of refractoriness led to the discovery that the host-parasite interaction is mimicked by the mosquito's response to carboxymethyl (CM)-Sephadex beads injected into the thorax. These small beads are melanized within 24 hr in refractory mosquitoes but are rarely melanized in susceptible ones. Because of the considerable potential in using bead melanization as a model for Plasmodium refractoriness, we performed a genetic analysis of the differential response to beads. Reciprocal crosses of susceptible (4arr) and refractory (L35) mosquitoes and an analysis of F1 phenotypes were done. The F1 progeny had a phenotype similar to that of the parental refractory mosquitoes; therefore, dominant refractory allele(s) must be present in the refractory strain. Males from the reciprocal crosses had identical phenotypes, indicating that X-linked loci did not have a visible effect on the melanizing phenotype. To further study the mode of inheritance of the melanizing trait, a backcross of F1 females to 4arr males was done. The phenotypic distribution of the backcross progeny was bimodal, and the melanization phenotypes were similar to those of the susceptible and refractory parents. These data suggest that a small number of loci are responsible for the differential response to CM-Sephadex beads, and that one chromosomal region contributes strongly to the melanizing trait. Because the 4arr strain carries mutations in the pink eye (X) and red eye (III) genes, possible linkage of the melanizing phenotype to these two genes was tested. No linkage with either marker was detected. The pattern of inheritance of the melanizing phenotype is similar to that of the refractory phenotype of Pif-B; therefore, the genetic basis of the two responses may be the same.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
S. Kumar, G. K. Christophides, R. Cantera, B. Charles, Y. S. Han, S. Meister, G. Dimopoulos, F. C. Kafatos, and C. Barillas-Mury
The role of reactive oxygen species on Plasmodium melanotic encapsulation in Anopheles gambiae
PNAS, November 25, 2003; 100(24): 14139 - 14144.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1997 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.