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MALES OF AEDES AEGYPTI SHOW DIFFERENT CLOCK GENE EXPRESSION PROFILES IN THE PRESENCE OF CONSPECIFIC FEMALES
Interação social
Comportamento reprodutivo
Genes de relógio
Expressão gênica circadiana
Criptocromo 2
Social interaction
Reproductive behavior
Clock genes
Circadian gene expression
Cryptochrome 2
Affilliation
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Insetos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Insetos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / Instituto Nacional de Ciência E Tecnologia Em Entomologia Molecular (INCT-EM)/CNPq. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Insetos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Insetos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / Instituto Nacional de Ciência E Tecnologia Em Entomologia Molecular (INCT-EM)/CNPq. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Insetos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Abstract
Background: The study of behavioral and physiological traits in mosquitoes has been mainly focused on females
since males are not hematophagous and thus do not transfer the parasites that cause diseases in human populations.
However, the performance of male mosquitoes is key for the expansion of populations and the perpetuation of
mosquito species. Pre-copulatory communication between males and females is the initial and essential step for the
success of copulation and studying the male facet of this interaction provides fertile ground for the improvement of
vector control strategies. Like in most animals, reproduction, feeding, and oviposition are closely associated with locomotor
activity in mosquitoes. Rhythmic cycles of locomotor activity have been previously described in Aedes aegypti,
and in females, they are known to be altered by blood-feeding and arbovirus infection. In previous work, we found
that males in the presence of females significantly change their locomotor activity profiles, with a shift in the phase of
the activity peak. Here, we investigated whether this shift is associated with changes in the expression level of three
central circadian clock genes.
Methods: Real-time PCR reactions were performed for the gene period, cycle, and cryptochrome 2 in samples of
heads, antennae, and abdominal tips of solitary males and males in the presence of females. Assays with antennaeablated
males were also performed, asking whether this is an essential organ mediating the communication and the
variation in activity profiles.
Results: The gene period showed a conserved expression pattern in all tissues and conditions, while the other
two genes varied according to the male condition. A remarking pattern was observed in cry2, where the difference
between the amplitude of expression at the beginning of photophase and the expression peak in the scotophase
was greater when males were in the presence of females. Antennae ablation in males did not have a significant
effect on the expression profiles, suggesting that female recognition may involve other senses besides hearing and
olfaction.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that the expression of gene cryptochrome 2 varies in association with the interaction
between males and females.
Keywords in Portuguese
Aedes aegyptiInteração social
Comportamento reprodutivo
Genes de relógio
Expressão gênica circadiana
Criptocromo 2
Keywords
Aedes aegyptiSocial interaction
Reproductive behavior
Clock genes
Circadian gene expression
Cryptochrome 2
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