IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED CDNASOF THE VECTOR MOSQUITO, ANOPHELES-GAMBIAE

The isolation and study of Anopheles gambiae genes that are differenti ally expressed in development, notably in tissues associated with the maturation and transmission of the malaria parasite, is important for the elucidation of basic molecular mechanisms underlying vector-parasi te interactions, We have used the differential display technique to sc reen for mRNAs specifically expressed in adult males, females, and mid gut tissues of blood-fed and unfed females, me also screened for mRNAs specifically induced upon bacterial infection of larval stage mosquit oes, We have characterized 19 distinct cDNAs, most of which shaw devel opmentally regulated expression specificity during the mosquito life c ycle, The most interesting are six new sequences that are midgut-speci fic in the adult, three of which are also modulated by blood-feeding, The gut-specific sequences encode a maltase, a V-ATPase subunit, a GTP binding protein, two different lectins, and a nontrypsin serine prote ase, The latter sequence is also induced in larvae subjected to bacter ial challenge, With the exception of a mitochondrial DNA fragment, the other 18 sequences constitute expressed genomic sequence tags, 4 of w hich have been mapped cytogenetically.