TSU scientists have mapped the genome of dangerous malaria vectors

11 January 2017

Researchers at the TSU’s Laboratory for Ecology, Genetics and Environmental Protection (Ecogene), Department of Cytology and Genetics of the Biological Institute and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech, USA), have completed the work on the physical mapping of the genome of one of the malaria vectors in Central and South America - the malaria mosquito Anopheles albimanus. The map opens a new page in the study of one of the most dangerous vectors that are the causative agents of malaria and from which more than 400,000 people in the world die each year and extends the possibilities in the fight against the deadly infection.

- The most effective prevention of spreading the malaria is eradication carriers of the disease - malaria mosquito - said Gleb Artemov, a senior researcher at the Ecogene laboratory. - To do this, we use different ways: from the drainage of wetlands to the creation of transgenic mosquitoes. The development of new approaches causes the necessity to study the genetics, physiology, and ecology of representatives of the Anopheles genus, which are not possible without information about its complete DNA sequence.

For two years a group of scientists of TSU and the Virginia Tech has studied the genome of the Anopheles albimanus type. The researchers obtained images of its chromosomes and conducted an extensive series of experiments. At the end of November 2016, scientists completed the most comprehensive version of genomic assembly of the mosquito and as a result presented its physical map.

- This is the third mapped the genome of the genus Anopheles, - says Igor Sharahov, a leading researcher at the laboratory Ecogene, employee and associate professor of the Virginia Tech. - The first map of the most dangerous malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae was published in 2002, and then map the Asian species Anopheles stephensi and Anopheles atroparvus - mosquito that lives in Europe and Russia have been created. The comparison of these species has revealed new genomic rearrangements that changed the order of genes between different chromosomes.

Physical genome map allows you to define the position of every gene on the chromosomes and study the evolution of malarial mosquitoes by comparing the order of genes in different species. The map, for example, can help scientists creating transgenic mosquitoes to determine the optimal location for incorporation of DNA fragments into the genome.

Using the card has already helped scientists of TSU and Virginia Tech to detect and correct previous mistakes in the assembly of the genome Anopheles albimanus. The results of scientific research formed the basis of an article published in January 2017 in a top-rated scientific journal.

A new genome map is in open access in VectorBase (https://www.vectorbase.org/Anopheles_albimanus/Location/Genome).