Hot of the Presses! Dr. Luca Finetti's Paper in PLOS ONE

Congratulations go to Dr. Luca Finetti (PDF), Lange & Orchard Lab, on their paper Octopamine and tyramine signalling in Aedes aegypti: Molecular characterization and insight into potential physiological roles published by PLOS ONE

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281917

Aedes aegypti is the primary vector for dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever – debilitating diseases that together are responsible for hundreds of millions of infections and thousands of deaths annually worldwide. Understanding the A. aegypti physiology is critical for the development of new control strategies. In insects, the biogenic amines dopamine, serotonin, tyramine and octopamine play important roles in controlling various physiological processes. In A. aegypti, both serotonin and dopamine are implicated in blood feeding behavior and development. Conversely, the role of octopamine (OA) and tyramine (TA) in A. aegypti physiology is still poorly characterized. Both OA and TA exert their physiological actions by interacting with and activating different receptors, the tyramine (TAR) and the octopamine (OAR) receptors. Here, we show the characterization of the OA and TA receptors in A. aegypti. In the A. aegypti genome we identify a total of four OA receptors and three TA receptors, suggesting for each receptor a particular role in the development and physiology of this insect.

This work contributes to better understanding the roles of OA, TA, and their receptors, in A. aegypti that may be crucial in identifying novel strategies for the control of mosquitoes.