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CHARACTERIZATION OF APYRASE-LIKE ACTIVITY IN OCHLEROTATUS TRISERIATUS, OCHLEROTATUS HENDERSONI, AND AEDES AEGYPTI

The saliva of a blood-feeding insect can facilitate the intake of blood and effect the transmission of a pathogen. Apyrase is a salivary enzyme that inhibits the aggregation of platelets by hydrolyzing the activating molecule ADP. Apyrase also hydrolyzes ATP, which is a signal for neutrophil activation. Investigators have reported that malaria vector species in the Anopheles gambiae species complex and the genus Simulium had more apyrase activity than sibling species that were non-vectors. In this study, salivary gland extracta from sibling species Ochlerotatus triseriatus (Say), vector of LaCrosse virus, and the non-vector Oc. hendersoni Cockerell were examined. Apyrase activity was characterized from both species, but no difference in activities was observed. Differences in days to maximal apyrase activity after eclosion and apyrase levels after a blood meal were detected between Oc. triseriatus and Aedes aegypti L. (Rockefeller strain). These differences indicate that Ae. aegypti may be able to feed sooner and more often than Oc. triseriatus.

Received January 27, 2005. Accepted for publication May 7, 2005.

Acknowledgments: We thank M. Berenbaum, S. Farbach, R. Lampman, and J. Nardi for valuable comments and discussions, and M. Slamecka for help collecting field specimens. We also thank Dr. Henry Hagedorn for providing Ae. aegypti (Rockefeller strain), and the Peoria Park District and Oklahoma State Park system for allowing us to collect materials in their parks.

Financial support: This work was supported in part by a grant to Robert J. Novak from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (SENR TM-2). Hillary E. Reno was supported by an American Dissertation Fellowship from the American Association of University Women.

^* Address correspondence to Robert J. Novak, Medical Entomology Program, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL 61820. E-mail: rjnovak{at}uiuc.edu

Authors’ address: Hillary E. Reno and Robert J. Novak, Medical Entomology Program, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL 61820, E-mails: he_reno{at}hotmail.com and rjnovak{at}uiuc.edu.

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