A mosquito salivary protein-driven influx of myeloid cells facilitates flavivirus transmission.

Mosquitoes transmit many disease-relevant flaviviruses. Efficient viral transmission to mammalian hosts requires mosquito salivary factors. However, the specific salivary components facilitating viral transmission and their mechanisms of action remain largely unknown. Here, we show that a female mosquito salivary gland-specific protein, here named A. aegypti Neutrophil Recruitment Protein (AaNRP), facilitates the transmission of Zika and dengue viruses. AaNRP promotes a rapid influx of neutrophils, followed by virus-susceptible myeloid cells toward mosquito bite sites, which facilitates establishment of local infection and systemic dissemination. Mechanistically, AaNRP engages TLR1 and TLR4 of skin-resident macrophages and activates MyD88-dependent NF-κB signaling to induce the expression of neutrophil chemoattractants. Inhibition of MyD88-NF-κB signaling with the dietary phytochemical resveratrol reduces AaNRP-mediated enhancement of flavivirus transmission by mosquitoes. These findings exemplify how salivary components can aid viral transmission, and suggest a potential prophylactic target.

Do large-scale agricultural entities achieve higher livelihood levels and better environmental outcomes than small households? Evidence from rural China.

There is an ongoing debate about the type or scale of agriculture that should be most encouraged. This study explores the differences in livelihood levels and outcomes between new agricultural business entities (NABEs) and traditional small households. We applied the analytical tools of a sustainable livelihood framework and a multiple linear regression model to describe the determinants of livelihood outcomes of 105 NABEs and 119 traditional small households in two typical areas around the Sichuan Basin in China. The results show that the overall livelihood level of NABEs is 1.40 times higher than traditional small households. NABEs with a mixed livelihood strategy of both planting and breeding have the highest livelihood level, followed by planting NABEs and breeding NABEs. About 3.13% of all agricultural entities are at risk of falling into poverty; the greater risk levels are associated with the subsidized households (30.00%), pure farmers (12.50%), and part-time farming households (1.69%). NABEs in the study area are verified to use 2.06 times more pesticide and herbicide inputs compared to traditional small households. Education level, technical training, financial accessibility, and the connection with professional cooperatives are common factors influencing the livelihood levels of the two groups of agricultural entities. Livelihood levels of NABEs are also significantly influenced by the age of NABE leaders, planting area per capita, and agricultural insurance. Based on these results, the study proposes policy interventions that are most appropriate for achieving higher livelihood levels among both NABEs and small households. Although the mixed type of NABEs and non-farming households are recognized as being better agricultural entity types for poverty alleviation, we recommend a balance between fostering NABEs and maintaining traditional small households; guidance related to green agriculture production for NABEs is also urgently needed.

CRISPR-based gene drives generate super-Mendelian inheritance in the disease vector Culex quinquefasciatus.

Culex mosquitoes pose a significant public health threat as vectors for a variety of diseases including West Nile virus and lymphatic filariasis, and transmit pathogens threatening livestock, companion animals, and endangered birds. Rampant insecticide resistance makes controlling these mosquitoes challenging and necessitates the development of new control strategies. Gene drive technologies have made significant progress in other mosquito species, although similar advances have been lagging in Culex. Here we test a CRISPR-based homing gene drive for Culex quinquefasciatus, and show that the inheritance of two split-gene-drive transgenes, targeting different loci, are biased in the presence of a Cas9-expressing transgene although with modest efficiencies. Our findings extend the list of disease vectors where engineered homing gene drives have been demonstrated to include Culex alongside Anopheles and Aedes, and pave the way for future development of these technologies to control Culex mosquitoes.

Moderate operation scales of agricultural land under the greenhouse and open-field production modes based on DEA model in mountainous areas of southwest China.

The identification of the moderate scale of agricultural land was recognized as one of the key measures promoting sustainable agriculture development. However, due to the research gap in mountainous areas, new agricultural business entities (NABE) in these areas usually either refer to the plain area or simply pursue large scale, resulting in low production efficiency and even posing a threat to their sustainable survival. In this study, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model and Tobit regression model tools were employed to quantitatively reveal the moderate scale and key driving factors of agricultural land under the scale operation modes of greenhouse and open-field types. It was based on 154 NABE questionnaires in the mountainous areas around the Sichuan Basin in China, where NABEs are flourishing. The findings show an approximately "inverted U-shaped" curve relationship between NABE's production efficiency and their planting scale. The primary reason for the failure of NABE to achieve an overall high level of production efficiency is scale inefficiency. The optimal scale intervals for the greenhouse and open-field types of scale operation modes are 3.0-4.3 ha and 3.3-5.0 ha, respectively. Business entities' age, land circulation scale, land rent, and agricultural insurance are common factors that influence the scale efficiencies of both the greenhouse and open-field types. Accordingly, policy interventions regarding the guidance of moderate-scale operation of agricultural land are proposed for achieving the dual goal of cultivating NABE and implementing the Rural Revitalization Strategy in mountainous areas of China. While contributing to the knowledge on scale efficiency of agricultural land, this research also enlightens the practice of policy-making targeted to the sustainable development of agricultural industry led by NABE worldwide.

Next-generation CRISPR gene-drive systems using Cas12a nuclease.

One method for reducing the impact of vector-borne diseases is through the use of CRISPR-based gene drives, which manipulate insect populations due to their ability to rapidly propagate desired genetic traits into a target population. However, all current gene drives employ a Cas9 nuclease that is constitutively active, impeding our control over their propagation abilities and limiting the generation of alternative gene drive arrangements. Yet, other nucleases such as the temperature sensitive Cas12a have not been explored for gene drive designs in insects. To address this, we herein present a proof-of-concept gene-drive system driven by Cas12a that can be regulated via temperature modulation. Furthermore, we combined Cas9 and Cas12a to build double gene drives capable of simultaneously spreading two independent engineered alleles. The development of Cas12a-mediated gene drives provides an innovative option for designing next-generation vector control strategies to combat disease vectors and agricultural pests.

CRISPR-based gene drives generate super-Mendelian inheritance in the disease vector Culex quinquefasciatus.

Culex mosquitoes pose a significant public health threat as vectors for a variety of diseases including West Nile virus and lymphatic filariasis, and transmit pathogens threatening livestock, companion animals, and endangered birds. Rampant insecticide resistance makes controlling these mosquitoes challenging and necessitates the development of new control strategies. Gene drive technologies have made significant progress in other mosquito species, although similar advances have been lagging in Culex. Here we test the first CRISPR-based homing gene drive for Culex quinquefasciatus, demonstrating the possibility of using this technology to control Culex mosquitoes. Our results show that the inheritance of two split-gene-drive transgenes, targeting different loci, are biased in the presence of a Cas9-expressing transgene although with modest efficiencies. Our findings extend the list of disease vectors where engineered homing gene drives have been demonstrated to include Culex alongside Anopheles and Aedes, and pave the way for future development of these technologies to control Culex mosquitoes.

Multiple-P450 Gene Co-Up-Regulation in the Development of Permethrin Resistance in the House Fly, Musca domestica.

This paper reports a study conducted at the whole transcriptome level to characterize the P450 genes involved in the development of pyrethroid resistance, utilizing expression profile analyses of 86 cytochrome P450 genes in house fly strains with different levels of resistance to pyrethroids/permethrin. Interactions among the up-regulated P450 genes and possible regulatory factors in different autosomes were examined in house fly lines with different combinations of autosomes from a resistant house fly strain, ALHF. Eleven P450 genes that were significantly up-regulated, with levels > 2-fold those in the resistant ALHF house flies, were in CYP families 4 and 6 and located on autosomes 1, 3 and 5. The expression of these P450 genes was regulated by trans- and/or cis-acting factors, especially on autosomes 1 and 2. An in vivo functional study indicated that the up-regulated P450 genes also conferred permethrin resistance in Drosophila melanogaster transgenic lines. An in vitro functional study confirmed that the up-regulated P450 genes are able to metabolize not only cis- and trans-permethrin, but also two metabolites of permethrin, PBalc and PBald. In silico homology modeling and the molecular docking methodology further support the metabolic capacity of these P450s for permethrin and substrates. Taken together, the findings of this study highlight the important function of multi-up-regulated P450 genes in the development of insecticide resistance in house flies.

Beyond the eye: Kynurenine pathway impairment causes midgut homeostasis dysfunction and survival and reproductive costs in blood-feeding mosquitoes.

Insect ommochrome biosynthesis pathways metabolize tryptophan to generate eye-color pigments and wild-type alleles of pathway genes are useful phenotypic markers in transgenesis studies. Pleiotropic effects of mutations in some genes exert a load on both survival and reproductive success in blood-feeding species. Here, we investigated the challenges imposed on mosquitoes by the increase of tryptophan metabolites resulting from blood meal digestion and the impact of disruptions of the ommochrome biosynthesis pathway. Female mosquitoes with spontaneous and induced mutations in the orthologs of the genes encoding kynurenine hydroxylase in Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi and Culex quinquefasciatus exhibited impaired survival and reproductive phenotypes that varied in type and severity among the species. A compromised midgut permeability barrier function was also observed in An. stephensi. Surprisingly, mutant mosquitoes displayed an increase in microbiota compared to controls that was not accompanied by a general induction of immune genes. Antibiotic treatment rescued some deleterious traits implicating a role for the kynurenine pathway (KP) in midgut homeostasis. Supplemental xanthurenic acid, a KP end-product, rescued lethality and limited microbiota proliferation in Ae. aegypti. These data implicate the KP in the regulation of the host/microbiota interface. These pleiotropic effects on mosquito physiology are important in the development of genetic strategies targeting vector mosquitoes.

Evaluation of Gene Knockouts by CRISPR as Potential Targets for the Genetic Engineering of the Mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus.

Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes are a globally widespread vector of several human and animal pathogens. Their biology and behavior allow them to thrive in proximity to urban areas, rendering them a constant public health threat. Their mixed bird/mammal feeding behavior further offers a vehicle for zoonotic pathogens transmission to people and, separately, poses a threat to the conservation of insular birds. The advent of CRISPR has led to the development of novel technologies for the genetic engineering of wild mosquito populations. Yet, research into Cx. quinquefasciatus has been lagging compared to other disease vectors. Here, we use this tool to disrupt a set of five pigmentation genes in Cx. quinquefasciatus that, when altered, lead to visible, homozygous-viable phenotypes. We further validate this approach in separate laboratories and in two distinct strains of Cx. quinquefasciatus that are relevant to potential future public health and bird conservation applications. We generate a double-mutant line, demonstrating the possibility of sequentially combining multiple such mutations in a single individual. Lastly, we target two loci, doublesex in the sex-determination pathway and proboscipedia, a hox gene, demonstrating the flexibility of these methods applied to novel targets. Our work provides a platform of seven validated loci that could be used for targeted mutagenesis in Cx. quinquefasciatus and the future development of genetic suppression strategies for this species. Furthermore, the mutant lines generated here could have widespread utility to the research community using this model organism, as they could be used as targets for transgene delivery, where a copy of the disrupted gene could be included as an easily scored transgenesis marker.

G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs): Signaling Pathways, Characterization, and Functions in Insect Physiology and Toxicology.

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are known to play central roles in the physiology of many organisms. Members of this seven α-helical transmembrane protein family transduce the extracellular signals and regulate intracellular second messengers through coupling to heterotrimeric G-proteins, adenylate cyclase, cAMPs, and protein kinases. As a result of the critical function of GPCRs in cell physiology and biochemistry, they not only play important roles in cell biology and the medicines used to treat a wide range of human diseases but also in insects' physiological functions. Recent studies have revealed the expression and function of GPCRs in insecticide resistance, improving our understanding of the molecular complexes governing the development of insecticide resistance. This article focuses on the review of G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling pathways in insect physiology, including insects' reproduction, growth and development, stress responses, feeding, behaviors, and other physiological processes. Hormones and polypeptides that are involved in insect GPCR regulatory pathways are reviewed. The review also gives a brief introduction of GPCR pathways in organisms in general. At the end of the review, it provides the recent studies on the function of GPCRs in the development of insecticide resistance, focusing in particular on our current knowledge of the expression and function of GPCRs and their downstream regulation pathways and their roles in insecticide resistance and the regulation of resistance P450 gene expression. The latest insights into the exciting technological advances and new techniques for gene expression and functional characterization of the GPCRs in insects are provided.

Optimized CRISPR tools and site-directed transgenesis towards gene drive development in Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes.

Culex mosquitoes are a global vector for multiple human and animal diseases, including West Nile virus, lymphatic filariasis, and avian malaria, posing a constant threat to public health, livestock, companion animals, and endangered birds. While rising insecticide resistance has threatened the control of Culex mosquitoes, advances in CRISPR genome-editing tools have fostered the development of alternative genetic strategies such as gene drive systems to fight disease vectors. However, though gene-drive technology has quickly progressed in other mosquitoes, advances have been lacking in Culex. Here, we develop a Culex-specific Cas9/gRNA expression toolkit and use site-directed homology-based transgenesis to generate and validate a Culex quinquefasciatus Cas9-expressing line. We show that gRNA scaffold variants improve transgenesis efficiency in both Culex quinquefasciatus and Drosophila melanogaster and boost gene-drive performance in the fruit fly. These findings support future technology development to control Culex mosquitoes and provide valuable insight for improving these tools in other species.

Multiple cytochrome P450 genes: conferring high levels of permethrin resistance in mosquitoes, Culex quinquefasciatus.

Insecticides, especially pyrethroids, are the most important in the insect pest control and preventing insect vector-borne human diseases. However, insect pests, including mosquitoes, have developed resistance in the insecticides that used against them. Cytochrome P450s are associated with insecticide resistance through overexpression and detoxification mechanisms in insect species. In this study, we utilized a powerful tool, the RNAi technique, to determine the roles of key P450 genes overexpressed in permethrin resistant mosquitoes that confer insecticide resistance to unravel the molecular basis of resistance mechanisms in the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus. The results showed that knockdown of 8 key P450 genes using RNAi techniques significantly decreased resistance to permethrin in resistant mosquitoes. In silico modeling and docking analysis further revealed the potential metabolic function of overexpressed P450 genes in the development of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes. These findings not only highlighted the functional importance of these P450 genes in insecticide resistance, but also revealed that overexpression of multiple P450 genes was responsible for the high levels of insecticide resistance in a mosquito population of Culex quinquefasciatus.

Functional Analyses of House Fly Carboxylesterases Involved in Insecticide Resistance.

Carboxylesterase-mediated metabolism is one of major mechanisms involved in insecticide resistance. Our previous study has identified multiple carboxylesterase genes with their expression levels were significantly upregulated in pyrethroid resistant house flies. To further explore their metabolic functions, we used insect Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells to express these carboxylesterases in vitro and measure their hydrolytic activities toward esterase substrates. Our results indicated that these carboxylesterases can efficiently hydrolyze α-naphthyl acetate rather than ß- naphthyl acetate. A cell based MTT cytotoxicity assay indicated that carboxylesterase-expressing cells show enhanced tolerance to permethrin, suggesting important roles of these carboxylesterases in metabolizing permethrin and thereby protecting cells from permethrin treatments. The metabolic functions of carboxylesterases were further verified by conducting in vitro metabolism studies toward permethrin and its potential metabolites 3-phenoxybenzyl alcohol and 3-phenoxybenzaldehyde, which not only suggested the potential metabolic pathway of permethrin in insects, but also important roles of these candidate carboxylesterases in metabolizing permethrin and conferring resistance in house flies. Homology modeling and docking were finally conducted to reflect interactions between permethrin ligand and carboxylesterase proteins, visually confirming the metabolic functions of carboxylesterases to insecticides in house flies.

A transcomplementing gene drive provides a flexible platform for laboratory investigation and potential field deployment.

CRISPR-based gene drives can spread through wild populations by biasing their own transmission above the 50% value predicted by Mendelian inheritance. These technologies offer population-engineering solutions for combating vector-borne diseases, managing crop pests, and supporting ecosystem conservation efforts. Current technologies raise safety concerns for unintended gene propagation. Herein, we address such concerns by splitting the drive components, Cas9 and gRNAs, into separate alleles to form a trans-complementing split-gene-drive (tGD) and demonstrate its ability to promote super-Mendelian inheritance of the separate transgenes. This dual-component configuration allows for combinatorial transgene optimization and increases safety by restricting escape concerns to experimentation windows. We employ the tGD and a small-molecule-controlled version to investigate the biology of component inheritance and resistant allele formation, and to study the effects of maternal inheritance and impaired homology on efficiency. Lastly, mathematical modeling of tGD spread within populations reveals potential advantages for improving current gene-drive technologies for field population modification.

Functional Characterization of Carboxylesterases in Insecticide Resistant House Flies, Musca Domestica.

Carboxylesterase-mediated metabolism is thought to play a major role in insecticide resistance in various insects. Several carboxylesterase genes were found up-regulated in the resistant house fly strain, whereas their roles in conferring insecticide resistance remained to be explored. Here, we designed a protocol for the functional characterization of carboxylesterases. Three example experiments are presented: (1) expression and isolation of carboxylesterase proteins through a baculovirus-mediated insect Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cell expression system; (2) a cell-based MTT (3-[4, 5-dimethykthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) cytotoxicity assay to measure the tolerance of insect cells to different permethrin treatments; and (3) in vitro metabolic studies to explore the metabolic capabilities of carboxylesterases toward permethrin. The carboxylesterase gene MdαE7 was cloned from a resistant house fly strain ALHF and used to construct a recombinant baculovirus for Sf9 cells infection. The cell viabilities against different permethrin treatments were measured with the MTT assay. The enhanced cell tolerance of the experimental group (MdαE7-recombinant baculovirus infected cells) compared with those of the control groups (CAT-recombinant baculovirus infected cells and GFP-recombinant baculovirus infected cells) to permethrin treatments suggested the capabilities of MdαE7 in metabolizing insecticides, thereby protecting cells from chemical damages. Besides that, carboxylesterase proteins were expressed in insect Sf9 cells and isolated to conduct an in vitro metabolic study. Our results indicated a significant in vitro metabolic efficiency of MdαE7 toward permethrin, directly indicating the involvement of carboxylesterases in metabolizing insecticides and thus conferring insecticide resistance in house flies.

Carboxylesterase genes in pyrethroid resistant house flies, Musca domestica.

Carboxylesterases are one of the major enzyme families involved in the detoxification of pyrethroids. Up-regulation of carboxylesterase genes is thought to be a major component of insecticide resistant mechanisms in insects. Based on the house fly transcriptome and genome database, a total of 39 carboxylesterase genes of different functional clades have been identified in house flies. In this study, eleven of these genes were found to be significantly overexpressed in the resistant ALHF house fly strain compared with susceptible aabys and wild-type CS strains. Eight up-regulated carboxylesterase genes with their expression levels were further induced to a higher level in response to permethrin treatments, indicating that constitutive and inductive overexpression of carboxylesterases are co-responsible for the enhanced detoxification of insecticides. Spatial expression studies revealed these up-regulated genes to be abundantly distributed in fat bodies and genetically mapped on autosome 2 or 3 of house flies, and their expression could be regulated by factors on autosome 1, 2 and 5. Taken together, these results demonstrate that multiple carboxylesterase genes are co-upregulated in resistant house flies, providing further evidence for their involvement in the detoxification of insecticides and development of insecticide resistance.