Manipulating Mosquitos

From slobbering dogs to drooling babies, we’re all familiar with the sight of saliva. What your eyes may miss is the saliva that comes from a mosquito bite, which can bring with it the malaria parasite Plasmodium. Plasmodium sits in the salivary glands of an infected mosquito waiting for a chance to spread to its next victim. Researchers therefore investigated whether damaging the salivary glands of mosquitoes impacts Plasmodium infection. Mosquitoes were genetically engineered to produce very little saliva. The salivary glands of these mutant mosquitoes (right) underwent more cell death (blue) than those of normal mosquitoes (left). After the mosquitoes fed on infected blood, the team looked for Plasmodium parasites in their salivary glands. Normal mosquitoes contained many parasites, while mutants hardly any. Consequently mutants were unable to transmit the parasite onto another host. Mosquito salivary glands could therefore be an ideal target for controlling the spread of malaria.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image from work by Daisuke S. Yamamoto and Megumi Sumitani, and colleagues
• Division of Medical Zoology, Department of Infection and Immunity, Jichi Medical University, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS Pathogens, September 2016