DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Human-mediated evolution in the vector mosquito Aedes aegypti

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

In the recent past, human impacts on the environment have been some of the strongest forces shaping genetic variation in other species. Adaptation of species to human habitats, such as urban environments, is particularly interesting in systems where arthropods are disease vectors and where humans are also the major food source of the arthropods. The proposed work will explore the role of humans in shaping variation in the vector mosquito species Aedes aegypti both neutrally through human-mediated dispersal, and as a selective force through the creation of novel environments with dependable breeding sites and hosts. Early evidence suggests populations of human-adapted mosquitoes breeding in urban centers have arisen from multiple independent domestication events of animal-eating, forest-dwelling populations of A. aegypti. The PIs will examine DNA sequences from worldwide field collections of A. aegypti to 1) determine ancestry in the species and infer whether domestication has occurred multiple times, and 2) explore patterns of variation in a gene potentially linked to human host choice and a close ecological linkage with humans. This research will help elucidate patterns of domestication relevant to many organisms in increasingly human-dominated landscapes. Overlap of mosquito and human populations has strong implications for disease transmission, as A. aegypti is the principal vector of yellow fever and dengue viruses. All data and samples will be publicly available through the database PopGenBase (integrated with Google Earth) and the Peabody Museum at Yale. This project will provide training for young international scientists, U.S. undergraduates, and K-12 biology teachers and students from local public schools.