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Identification and characterization of a mosquito-specific eggshell organizing factor in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
Mosquito-borne pathogens infect millions of people worldwide, and the rise in insecticide resistance is exacerbating this problem. A new generation of environmentally safe insecticides will be essential to control insecticide-resistant mosquitoes. One potential route to such novel insecticide targets is the identification of proteins specifically needed for mosquito reproduction. Using RNA interference to screen mosquito-specific genes in Aedes aegypti (the mosquito that transmits yellow fever), Isoe et al. identified the eggshell organizing factor 1 (EOF1) protein as playing an essential role in eggshell melanization and embryonic development. Nearly 100% of the eggs laid by EOF1-deficient females had a defective eggshell and were non-viable. Additional experiments revealed that EOF1 also plays an essential role in eggshell formation in Aedes albopictus, a carrier of Zika virus and dengue fever. The image shows a scanning electron micrograph of a small region (about 20 µm across) of the shell from a normal Aedes aegypti egg.
Image Credit: pbio.3000068
Citation: (2019) PLoS Biology Issue Image | Vol. 17(1) January 2019. PLoS Biol 17(1): ev17.i01. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pbio.v17.i01
Published: January 31, 2019
Copyright: © 2019 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Mosquito-borne pathogens infect millions of people worldwide, and the rise in insecticide resistance is exacerbating this problem. A new generation of environmentally safe insecticides will be essential to control insecticide-resistant mosquitoes. One potential route to such novel insecticide targets is the identification of proteins specifically needed for mosquito reproduction. Using RNA interference to screen mosquito-specific genes in Aedes aegypti (the mosquito that transmits yellow fever), Isoe et al. identified the eggshell organizing factor 1 (EOF1) protein as playing an essential role in eggshell melanization and embryonic development. Nearly 100% of the eggs laid by EOF1-deficient females had a defective eggshell and were non-viable. Additional experiments revealed that EOF1 also plays an essential role in eggshell formation in Aedes albopictus, a carrier of Zika virus and dengue fever. The image shows a scanning electron micrograph of a small region (about 20 µm across) of the shell from a normal Aedes aegypti egg.
Image Credit: pbio.3000068