Laura B Dickson
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, TX·Microbiology & Immunology
The mosquito Aedes aegypti spreads dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses. It once lived only in the tropics, but it is now spreading into dry regions such as the southwestern United States.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Ecology & Evolution
Genetics
- Topics
Aedes aegypti
mosquito
vector competence
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2029
What they work on
- Test whether formation of the peritrophic matrix, a sac around the blood meal, changes Aedes aegypti midgut susceptibility to arboviruses by controlling how easily the virus reaches the gut lining.
- Measure peritrophic matrix traits and midgut cellular and molecular responses in mosquito lines kept at low humidity, and in US lines that adapted naturally to dry habitats.
- Identify the metabolites and metabolic processes behind dengue virus midgut infection, and confirm their roles in infection.
- Compare metabolic profiles of low-humidity laboratory lines and dry-adapted US field populations to test whether desiccation tolerance is linked to dengue susceptibility.
More about the research
Outside the US, populations that adapted to low rainfall also became more susceptible to Zika virus. This project asks whether desiccation tolerance, the ability to survive dry conditions, changes how well mosquitoes pick up and transmit viruses. This trait is called vector competence. The project also aims to identify the genes behind any such link.
Why it matters
Aedes aegypti is moving into arid parts of the United States. Learning whether adaptation to dry conditions makes these mosquitoes better carriers of dengue, Zika and chikungunya could help predict where these diseases may emerge. The genes identified could also inform genetic mosquito control methods, such as gene drives, to slow the spread of these viruses.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jeffrey R Powell
Yale University, CT·Ecology & Evolution
Map genetic diversity and evolutionary relationships among Southwest Indian Ocean populations of Aedes aegypti and its relatives Ae. mascarensis and Ae. pia, using population genetics and phylogeography to identify candidate cryptic species.
Michael Strand
University of Georgia, GA·Microbiology & Immunology
Identify the genes switched on by hypoxia-induced transcription factors (HIFs), proteins activated by low oxygen, in Aedes aegypti larvae.
Alun Lloyd
North Carolina State University, NC·Mathematics & Statistics
Measure how residents of Ibagué, Colombia differ in adopting mosquito-prevention behaviors around the home, such as water container management, and identify the cues that drive them, using observational and experimental social science methods.
The school
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston: 14 labs on PI Pages, $241M a year on research, 141 research doctorates a year.
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