@article{85e95760ec9642baabd7cdbf352d2c46,
title = "Climate and Urbanization Drive Mosquito Preference for Humans",
abstract = "The majority of mosquito-borne illness is spread by a few mosquito species that have evolved to specialize in biting humans, yet the precise causes of this behavioral shift are poorly understood. We address this gap in the arboviral vector Aedes aegypti. We first collect and characterize the behavior of mosquitoes from 27 sites scattered across the species{\textquoteright} ancestral range in sub-Saharan Africa, revealing previously unrecognized variation in preference for human versus animal odor. We then use modeling to show that over 80% of this variation can be predicted by two ecological factors—dry season intensity and human population density. Finally, we integrate this information with whole-genome sequence data from 375 individual mosquitoes to identify a single underlying ancestry component linked to human preference. Genetic changes associated with human specialist ancestry were concentrated in a few chromosomal regions. Our findings suggest that human-biting in this important disease vector originally evolved as a by-product of breeding in human-stored water in areas where doing so provided the only means to survive the long, hot dry season. Our model also predicts that the rapid urbanization currently taking place in Africa will drive further mosquito evolution, causing a shift toward human-biting in many large cities by 2050.",
keywords = "Aedes aegpyti, behavioral evolution, ecological genomics, host preference, mosquitoes, olfactory behavior, population genomics, public health, urbanization",
author = "Rose, {Noah H.} and Massamba Sylla and Athanase Badolo and Joel Lutomiah and Diego Ayala and Aribodor, {Ogechukwu B.} and Nnenna Ibe and Jewelna Akorli and Sampson Otoo and Mutebi, {John Paul} and Kriete, {Alexis L.} and Ewing, {Eliza G.} and Rosemary Sang and Andrea Gloria-Soria and Powell, {Jeffrey R.} and Baker, {Rachel E.} and White, {Bradley J.} and Crawford, {Jacob E.} and McBride, {Carolyn S.}",
note = "Funding Information: The authors thank Siyang Xia, Christophe Paupy, and Bryan Grenfell for valuable feedback on early results; Boy Ponlawat for generously providing mosquito eggs used to establish a laboratory reference colony from Thailand; Francis Mulwa, Gilbert Rotich, Gilbert Bianquinche, and Marc F. Ngangu{\'e} for field assistance; the National Park Services and rangers of Kenya, Gabon, and Ghana for providing access to forest areas; and a large number of local residents who gave advice and assistance at all field sites. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of CDC. This work was funded by Pew Scholars, Searle Scholars , Klingenstein-Simons , and Rosalind Franklin/Gruber Foundation awards to C.S.M.; the National Institutes of Health ( R00DC012069 to C.S.M. and R01AI101112 and U01AI115595 to J.R.P.); a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship to N.H.R.; and undergraduate thesis funding from the Princeton University Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and African Studies Program to N.I. and E.G.E. Verily Life Sciences funded all genome sequencing. The research was also supported by the New York Stem Cell Foundation . C.S.M. is a New York Stem Cell Foundation – Robertson Investigator Funding Information: The authors thank Siyang Xia, Christophe Paupy, and Bryan Grenfell for valuable feedback on early results; Boy Ponlawat for generously providing mosquito eggs used to establish a laboratory reference colony from Thailand; Francis Mulwa, Gilbert Rotich, Gilbert Bianquinche, and Marc F. Ngangu? for field assistance; the National Park Services and rangers of Kenya, Gabon, and Ghana for providing access to forest areas; and a large number of local residents who gave advice and assistance at all field sites. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of CDC. This work was funded by Pew Scholars, Searle Scholars, Klingenstein-Simons, and Rosalind Franklin/Gruber Foundation awards to C.S.M.; the National Institutes of Health (R00DC012069 to C.S.M. and R01AI101112 and U01AI115595 to J.R.P.); a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship to N.H.R.; and undergraduate thesis funding from the Princeton University Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and African Studies Program to N.I. and E.G.E. Verily Life Sciences funded all genome sequencing. The research was also supported by the New York Stem Cell Foundation. C.S.M. is a New York Stem Cell Foundation?Robertson Investigator, N.H.R. M.S. A.B. J.L. D.A. O.B.A. N.I. S.O. J.A. J.P.M. R.S. and C.S.M. planned and carried out field collections. N.H.R. A.L.K. M.S. and J.R.P. established laboratory colonies. N.H.R, N.I. and A.L.K carried out behavioral experiments. N.H.R. and E.G.E. carried out morphological quantification. B.J.W. and J.E.C. carried out genome sequencing and alignment. J.R.P. and A.G.S. provided non-African samples for sequencing. N.H.R. B.J.W. J.E.C. and C.S.M analyzed genomic data. R.E.B. modeled future conditions. N.H.R. and C.S.M. conceived the project and wrote the manuscript with input at all stages from many other authors. The authors declare no competing interests. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 The Authors",
year = "2020",
month = sep,
day = "21",
doi = "10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.092",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "30",
pages = "3570--3579.e6",
journal = "Current Biology",
issn = "0960-9822",
publisher = "Cell Press",
number = "18",
}