How do mosquitoes find ‘blood-sucking prey’? If we could block the detection of human body odors, would we still be able to find them?
In general, when a person exhales a unique body odor into the air, mosquitoes stimulate receptors in the antennae and bite the person who emits the body odor. Can mosquitoes find and bite people even if they remove their receptors? A study has found whether mosquitoes bite people even when the antennae receptors have been removed so that they cannot detect humans. in conclusion? Mosquitoes bite well though. It became increasingly toxic. Even after removing the odor receptor from the mosquito genome, mosquitoes still find a way to bite people, suggesting that the mosquito’s olfactory receptor nerve function has evolved.
A joint research team at Rockefeller University and Boston University in the United States discovered that a safety device that can always smell humans has evolved in the mosquito’s olfactory system. It was recently published under the title
According to the researchers, in most animals, a single olfactory neuron is responsible for detecting only one type of smell. If a person loses one olfactory receptor, all neurons with that receptor lose the ability to smell it. Mosquitoes were different. Eliminating one receptor meant nothing to the mosquito.
While investigating how human odors are encoded in mosquito brains, the researchers found that neurons in mosquitoes stimulated by 1-octen-3-ol, a mushroom-scented aromatic substance, were detected by mosquitoes to detect humans. It was also found to be stimulated by amines (compounds in which the hydrogen atom of ammonia is replaced with a hydrocarbon group), another chemical used for the treatment. 1-Octene-3-ol is a chemical that attracts biting insects, such as mosquitoes, and is present in people’s breath and sweat.
This is rare, given the existing rules for how animals smell. Neurons encode odors with limited specificity, so 1-octen-3-ol neurons should not be able to detect amines. However, the co-expression of mosquito neurons that detect humans through 1-octen-3-ol and amine receptors makes it possible to smell all human-associated odors, even if some receptors are lost. It has evolved into a safety device that activates the ‘human-sensing part’ in the mosquito’s brain.
The researchers also used single-nucleus RNA sequencing to investigate which other receptors the olfactory neurons of individual mosquitoes express. Co-expression of mosquito receptors was common. Mosquitoes can easily find their ‘prey’ by co-expression of two or more receptors, anytime, anywhere, as long as there are people around.
Since similar receptor coexpression has been reported in Drosophila neurons, the researchers explain that this may be a common strategy for insects that rely heavily on smell.
Reporter Jeong Hee-eun [email protected]
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