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Anopheles gambiae TRPA1 is a heat‐activated channel expressed in thermosensitive sensilla of female antennae
Author(s) -
Wang Guirong,
Qiu Yu T.,
Lu Tan,
Kwon HyungWook,
Jason Pitts R.,
Van Loon Joop J. A.,
Takken Willem,
Zwiebel Laurence J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06901.x
Subject(s) - anopheles gambiae , xenopus , transient receptor potential channel , biology , sensory system , transduction (biophysics) , anopheles , malaria , host (biology) , larva , microbiology and biotechnology , zoology , receptor , ecology , neuroscience , genetics , immunology , biophysics , gene
Heat sensitivity is a sensory modality that plays a critical role in close‐range host‐seeking behaviors of adult female Anopheles gambiae , the principal Afrotropical vector for human malaria. An essential step in this activity is the ability to discriminate and respond to increases in environmental temperature gradients through the process of peripheral thermoreception. Here, we report on the characterization of the anopheline homolog of the transient receptor potential (TRP) A1/ANKTM1 channel that is consistent with its role as a heat‐sensor in host‐seeking adult female mosquitoes. We identify a set of distal antennal sensory structures that specifically respond to temperature gradients and express AgTRPA1 . Functional characterization of AgTRPA1 in Xenopus oocytes supports its role in the molecular transduction of temperature gradients in An. gambiae , providing a basis for targeting mosquito heat responses as a means toward reducing malaria transmission.