How Do Mosquitoes Digest Their Food?

Wouter

Several studies have attempted to discover how mosquitoes digest their food. Scientists have been studying the mosquito’s anatomy for decades, but it is still unclear how mosquitoes ingest their food. Many researchers have attempted to dissect the mosquito in order to discover how it does this. However, because the mouthparts are very delicate, dissections are often difficult.

In order to examine the digestive process, researchers used a gene targeting technique called RNAi. This type of gene targeting technique targets genes that are important for digestion. By introducing RNAi into the mosquito, they were able to examine the expression of digestive enzymes.

Several digestive enzymes were examined in the midgut. The enzymes were qRT-PCR-tested to assess their expression levels. The enzymes examined were: AAEL000034, AAEL000042, AAEL006425, AAEL006249, AAEL000042, AAEL000043, AAEL000042, AAEL000043, and AAEL000028. The enzymes were found to be expressed in the midgut, but their expression levels varied depending on the species of mosquito.

In Aedes aegypti (L.), female mosquitoes showed an inhibition in the digestive process after eating blood. This inhibition affected the ability of the mosquito to fly. However, in other species, the switch mechanism was not as well developed.

The stomodeal nervous system of the mosquito was studied by Trembley (1952). He concluded that the sense organs in the mosquito’s buccal cavity were stimulated by food. This could lead to the relaxation of both series of sphincters.

Another study revealed that female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes could not digest their blood meal. This was due to an inhibition of the metabolic enzyme serine hydroxymethyltransferase. The enzyme links amino acid and nucleotide metabolism. It also blocks the biosynthesis of pyrimidine.

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