ANOCAP

COMPARATIVE EVOLUTIONARY AND FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS OF DISEASE-VECTOR ANOPHELES MOSQUITOES

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'A major human health concern centres on diseases transmitted by blood-feeding insects, including malaria, dengue fever, and filariasis. Declining successes with pesticides necessitate novel vector control approaches with detailed biological understanding facilitating targeted interventions that limit ecological knock-on effects. Growing concerns over global climate change augment the urgency: expanding habitats and rapid adaptability make the threat greater than ever before. Research on disease-vector mosquitoes was transformed with the sequencing of the Anopheles gambiae genome, facilitating large-scale studies and development of extensive functional genomics tools. Of ~500 Anopheline species, only about two dozen transmit human malaria, with vectorial capacity varying greatly among even very closely-related mosquito species, making the understanding of what defines an effective malaria vector critical to developing successful controls. These variations, and other characteristics such as insecticide resistance and chemosensory abilities, derive from an underlying genetic basis, thus, to address this question requires dissection of genetic determinants of observed diversity in behavioural and physiological responses. Sequencing multiple additional Anopheline mosquito genomes will build extensive genomic data resources facilitating examination of the evolution of genetic determinants of vectorial capacity among Anophelines. To this end, this proposal aims to develop and employ computational strategies to interrogate multiple mosquito genomes for patterns of natural selection shaping the repertoire of functional genomic elements governing mosquito biology. Through the comprehensive, phylogenetically informed, comparative genome analysis of multiple mosquito species with variable vectorial capacities and eco-ethological characteristics, this project aims to significantly advance our understanding of the biology that underlies transmission of vector-borne diseases.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Control of the damaging impact of insects on human health and agriculture mainly involves the use of chemicals. A European study is proposing a more targeted approach, which stems from genomic and biological analysis of vectors.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Diseases transmitted by blood-feeding insects including malaria, dengue fever and filariasis are still major human health issues. The declining success of pesticides and concerns over global climate change augment the urgency of developing novel vector control approaches.

Interestingly, out of the 500 Anopheline species that were sequenced, only a few transmitted human malaria, pointing towards an underlying genetic basis for this observed heterogeneity. The EU-funded ANOCAP (Comparative evolutionary and functional genomics of disease-vector anopheles mosquitoes) project has set out to develop computational strategies for identifying genetic patterns of natural selection in multiple mosquito genomes.

To understand what defines an effective malaria vector and develop successful control strategies, researchers need to dissect the genetic determinants responsible for behavioural and physiological responses through evolution. In this context, ANOCAP will build multiple whole genome alignments to identify functional genomic elements. They are taking into consideration genome size and the evolutionary distances between the studied mosquito species.

The generated alignments were viewed using a web-based tool and through a computational pipeline they were screened for protein-coding regions. Significant effort has been devoted to the identification of evolutionary constraints across these alignments, which is synonymous with functional importance.

Preliminary results already highlight the translation capacity of genomic data into improved biological understanding of disease vectors. The combination of comparative evolutionary genomics and functional validation should significantly advance disease control strategies. This will also contribute to the development of innovative approaches to tackle global health issues.