Anopheles darlingi and Anopheles aquasalis transcriptome during Plasmodium vivax infection

Background: Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium and transmitted by anopheline mosquitoes. To better understand the biological basis of An. darlingi and An. Aquasalis, vectors of malaria in the Amazon, especially the molecular mechanisms of malaria transmission, there is a need to explore the transcriptomic biology of these mosquitoes species. The midgut of the mosquito is the first organ to interact with the parasites, triggering effective antiplasmodial responses that limit the survival of the parasite and the transmission of the disease. Methods: An. aquasalis and An.darlingi (F1) were obtained from a well-established colony at Fundação de Medicina Tropical (FMT-HVD). Mosquitoes were blood-fed using a membrane-feeding device containing infected blood from malarial patients. Twenty-four hours after feeding the mosquitoes were dissected and the midgut collected for transcriptomic analysis using RNAseq, 18 cDNA libraries were generated and sequenced on a HISEQ2500 Illumina. Results: Analyses of differentially expressed genes were performed using DESeq software. Twenty-two differentially expressed genes were recorded during invasion of An. aquasalis midgut epithelium by P. vivax, most related to transport. Differentially expressed genes of An. darling were mainly associated with detoxification enzymes and production of free radicals. Conclusions: The genes associated with transporters may serve as effectors for osmoregulation, suggesting that osmotic imbalance may play a role in the response to oocinete invasion of the epithelium. The differentially expressed genes in this study are being functionally evaluated to provide better understanding on the interaction of P. vivax and these vectors.