Little is known about the reproductive physiology of the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. A putative orthologue to the ovary ecdysteroidogenic hormone (OEH) for Aedes aegypti was found by searching the An. gambiae genome. The resulting amino acid sequence was found to share 45 % sequence identity and 54 % sequence similarity with the Ae. aegypti sequence. Using gene specific primers and RT-PCR, we identified the OEH mRNA in all life stages. In vitro assays revealed that the time course of ovary ecdysteroid production in bloodfed An. gambiae females lasts longer than that described for Ae. aegypti females. Dose-response studies of the activation of ovary ecdysteroidogenesis in vitro and egg maturation in vivo in An. gambiae females by Ae. aegypti OEH will be reported, along with progress in the isolation of OEH from An. gambiae whole body extracts.
Species 1: Diptera culicidae Anopheles gambiae (African malaria mosquito)
Species 2: Diptera culicidae Aedes aegypti (Yellow fever mosquito)
Keywords: ovary ecdysteroidogenic hormone
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