Entomological survey of sibling species in the Anopheles funestus group in Tanzania confirms the role of Anopheles parensis as a secondary malaria vector. (2024)
Journal Article
Mapua, S. A., Samb, B., Nambunga, I. H., Mkandawile, G., Bwanaly, H., Kaindoa, E. W., …Tripet, F. (2024). Entomological survey of sibling species in the Anopheles funestus group in Tanzania confirms the role of Anopheles parensis as a secondary malaria vector. Parasites and Vectors, 17(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-024-06348-9

Malaria transmission in Tanzania is driven by mosquitoes of the Anopheles gambiae complex and Anopheles funestus group. The latter includes An. funestus s.s., an anthropophilic vector, which is now strongly resistant to public health insecticides, an... Read More about Entomological survey of sibling species in the Anopheles funestus group in Tanzania confirms the role of Anopheles parensis as a secondary malaria vector..

How aphids fly: take off, free flight and implications for short and long distance migration (2024)
Journal Article
Bell, J. R., & Shephard, G. (in press). How aphids fly: take off, free flight and implications for short and long distance migration. Agricultural and forest entomology, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/afe.12623

An introduction to high‐speed photography and its entomological impact is provided, emphasizing the importance of high frame rates and high resolution. The take‐off and free flight of Drepanosiphum platanoidis and Myzus persicae were studied in still... Read More about How aphids fly: take off, free flight and implications for short and long distance migration.

How aphids fly: take off, free flight and implications for short and long distance migration (2024)
Journal Article
Bell, J., & Shephard, G. (2024). How aphids fly: take off, free flight and implications for short and long distance migration. Agricultural and forest entomology,

Sequencing and Analysis of Lumpy Skin Disease Virus Whole Genomes Reveals a New Viral Subgroup in West and Central Africa (2024)
Journal Article
Haga, I. R., Shih, B. B., Tore, G., Polo, N., Ribeca, P., Gombo-Ochir, D., …Beard, P. M. (in press). Sequencing and Analysis of Lumpy Skin Disease Virus Whole Genomes Reveals a New Viral Subgroup in West and Central Africa. Viruses, 16(4), Article 557. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16040557

Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) is a member of the capripoxvirus (CPPV) genus of the Poxviridae family. LSDV is a rapidly emerging, high-consequence pathogen of cattle, recently spreading from Africa and the Middle East into Europe and Asia. We have... Read More about Sequencing and Analysis of Lumpy Skin Disease Virus Whole Genomes Reveals a New Viral Subgroup in West and Central Africa.

BAI1 localizes AMPA receptors at the cochlear afferent post-synaptic density and is essential for hearing. (2024)
Journal Article
Carlton, A. J., Jeng, J.-Y., Grandi, F. C., De Faveri, F., Amariutei, A. E., De Tomasi, L., …Marcotti, W. (2024). BAI1 localizes AMPA receptors at the cochlear afferent post-synaptic density and is essential for hearing. Cell Reports, 43(4), Article 114025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114025

Type I spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) convey sound information to the central auditory pathway by forming synapses with inner hair cells (IHCs) in the mammalian cochlea. The molecular mechanisms regulating the formation of the post-synaptic density (... Read More about BAI1 localizes AMPA receptors at the cochlear afferent post-synaptic density and is essential for hearing..

The role of cultivated versus wild seeds in the diet of European turtle doves (Streptopelia turtur) across European breeding and African wintering grounds (2024)
Journal Article
Young, R. E., Dunn, J. C., Vaughan, I. P., Mallord, J. W., Drake, L. E., Orsman, C. J., …Symondson, W. O. C. (2024). The role of cultivated versus wild seeds in the diet of European turtle doves (Streptopelia turtur) across European breeding and African wintering grounds. Environmental DNA, 6(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.539

Agricultural intensification is a major driver in species declines, with changes in land use resulting in widespread alteration of resource availability. An increase in anthropogenic food resources, alongside decreasing natural resources, has resulte... Read More about The role of cultivated versus wild seeds in the diet of European turtle doves (Streptopelia turtur) across European breeding and African wintering grounds.

Dual stressors of infection and warming can destabilize host microbiomes (2024)
Journal Article
Li, J., Gao, Y., Stevens, E., & King, K. (2024). Dual stressors of infection and warming can destabilize host microbiomes. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences, 379(1901), https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0069

Climate change is causing extreme heating events and intensifying infectious disease outbreaks. Animals harbour microbial communities, which are vital for their survival and fitness under stressful conditions. Understanding how microbiome structures... Read More about Dual stressors of infection and warming can destabilize host microbiomes.

Interkingdom interactions shape the fungal microbiome of mosquitoes (2024)
Journal Article
Hegde, S., Khanipov, K., Hornett, E. A., Nilyanimit, P., Pimenova, M., Saldaña, M. A., …Hughes, G. L. (2024). Interkingdom interactions shape the fungal microbiome of mosquitoes. Animal Microbiome, 6(1), Article 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42523-024-00298-4

Background
The mosquito microbiome is an important modulator of vector competence and vectoral capacity. Unlike the extensively studied bacterial microbiome, fungal communities in the mosquito microbiome (the mycobiome) remain largely unexplored. To... Read More about Interkingdom interactions shape the fungal microbiome of mosquitoes.

Structural and mechanistic characterization of bifunctional heparan sulfate N-deacetylase-N-sulfotransferase 1 (2024)
Journal Article
Mycroft-West, C. J., Abdelkarim, S., Duyvesteyn, H. M. E., Gandhi, N. S., Skidmore, M. A., Owens, R. J., & Wu, L. (in press). Structural and mechanistic characterization of bifunctional heparan sulfate N-deacetylase-N-sulfotransferase 1. Nature Communications, 15(1), Article 1326. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45419-4

Heparan sulfate (HS) polysaccharides are major constituents of the extracellular matrix, which are involved in myriad structural and signaling processes. Mature HS polysaccharides contain complex, non-templated patterns of sulfation and epimerization... Read More about Structural and mechanistic characterization of bifunctional heparan sulfate N-deacetylase-N-sulfotransferase 1.

Genome assembly and transcriptomic analysis to elucidate the ability of Nasonovia ribisnigri to break host plant resistance (2024)
Journal Article
Garrett, D., Teakle, G., Collier, R., Bell, J. R., Cerezo‐Medina, S., & Morales‐Hojas, R. (in press). Genome assembly and transcriptomic analysis to elucidate the ability of Nasonovia ribisnigri to break host plant resistance. Insect Molecular Biology, https://doi.org/10.1111/imb.12894

Aphid genomic resources enable the study of complex life history traits and provide information on vector biology, host adaption and speciation. The currant–lettuce aphid (Nasonovia ribisnigri (Hemiptera: Aphididae) (Mosley)) is a cosmopolitan pest o... Read More about Genome assembly and transcriptomic analysis to elucidate the ability of Nasonovia ribisnigri to break host plant resistance.

Latent gammaherpesvirus infection enhances type I IFN response and reduces virus spread in an influenza A virus co-infection model. (2024)
Journal Article
Hardisty, G., Nicol, M. Q., Shaw, D. J., Bennet, I. D., Bryson, K., Ligertwood, Y., …Dutia, B. M. (2024). Latent gammaherpesvirus infection enhances type I IFN response and reduces virus spread in an influenza A virus co-infection model. Journal of General Virology, 105(2), https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001962

Infections with persistent or latent viruses alter host immune homeostasis and have potential to affect the outcome of concomitant acute viral infections such as influenza A virus (IAV). Gammaherpesviruses establish life-long infections and require a... Read More about Latent gammaherpesvirus infection enhances type I IFN response and reduces virus spread in an influenza A virus co-infection model..

Sources of prey availability data alter interpretation of outputs from prey choice null networks (2024)
Journal Article
Cuff, J. P., Tercel, M. P., Windsor, F. M., Hawthorne, B. S., Hambäck, P. A., Bell, J. R., …Vaughan, I. P. (2024). Sources of prey availability data alter interpretation of outputs from prey choice null networks. Ecological Entomology, https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13315

Null models provide a valuable baseline against which fundamental ecological hypotheses can be tested and foraging choices that cannot be explained by neutral processes or sampling biases can be highlighted. In this way, null models can advance our u... Read More about Sources of prey availability data alter interpretation of outputs from prey choice null networks.

Aedes aegypti gut transcriptomes respond differently to microbiome transplants from field‐caught or laboratory‐reared mosquitoes (2024)
Journal Article
Hegde, S., Brettell, L. E., Quek, S., Etebari, K., Saldaña, M. A., Asgari, S., …Hughes, G. L. (2024). Aedes aegypti gut transcriptomes respond differently to microbiome transplants from field‐caught or laboratory‐reared mosquitoes. Environmental Microbiology, 26(2), Article e16576. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.16576

The mosquito microbiome is critical for host development and plays a major role in many aspects of mosquito biology. While the microbiome is commonly dominated by a small number of genera, there is considerable variation in composition among mosquito... Read More about Aedes aegypti gut transcriptomes respond differently to microbiome transplants from field‐caught or laboratory‐reared mosquitoes.

Harnessing a Biocatalyst to Bioremediate the Purification of Alkylglycosides. (2023)
Journal Article
Wahart, A. J. C., Dolan, J. P., Anderson, S. D., Cheallaigh, A. N., Staniland, J., Lima, M. A., …Cosgrove, S. C. (in press). Harnessing a Biocatalyst to Bioremediate the Purification of Alkylglycosides. ChemBioChem, Article e202300625. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.202300625

As the world moves towards net-zero carbon emissions, the development of sustainable chemical manufacturing processes is essential. Within manufacturing, purification by distillation is often used, however this process is energy intensive and methods... Read More about Harnessing a Biocatalyst to Bioremediate the Purification of Alkylglycosides..

Virtual screening, identification and in vitro validation of small molecule GDP-mannose dehydrogenase inhibitors † (2023)
Journal Article
Dolan, J., Ahmadipour, S., Wahart, A., Ni Cheallaigh, A., Sari, S., Eurtivong,, C., …Miller, G. (2023). Virtual screening, identification and in vitro validation of small molecule GDP-mannose dehydrogenase inhibitors †. RSC Chemical Biology, 4(11), 865-870. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3CB00126A

Upon undergoing mucoid conversion within the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients, the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa synthesises copious quantities of the virulence factor and exopolysaccharide alginate. The enzyme guanosine diphosphate ma... Read More about Virtual screening, identification and in vitro validation of small molecule GDP-mannose dehydrogenase inhibitors †.

Single-cell profiling of mosquito spermatogenesis defines the onset of meiotic silencing and pre-meiotic overexpression of the X chromosome. (2023)
Journal Article
Page, N., Taxiarchi, C., Tonge, D., Kuburic, J., Chesters, E., Kriezis, A., …Galizi, R. (in press). Single-cell profiling of mosquito spermatogenesis defines the onset of meiotic silencing and pre-meiotic overexpression of the X chromosome. Communications Biology, 6, Article 850. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05224-z

Understanding development and genetic regulation in the Anopheles gambiae germline is essential to engineer effective genetic control strategies targeting this malaria mosquito vector. These include targeting the germline to induce sterility or using... Read More about Single-cell profiling of mosquito spermatogenesis defines the onset of meiotic silencing and pre-meiotic overexpression of the X chromosome..

Single-cell profiling of Anopheles gambiae spermatogenesis defines the onset of meiotic silencing and premeiotic overexpression of the X chromosome (2023)
Journal Article
Page, N., Taxiarchi, C., Tonge, D., Kuburic, J., Chesters, E., Kriezis, A., …Galizi, R. (2023). Single-cell profiling of Anopheles gambiae spermatogenesis defines the onset of meiotic silencing and premeiotic overexpression of the X chromosome. Communications Biology, 6(1), Article 850. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05224-z

Understanding development and genetic regulation in the Anopheles gambiae germline is essential to engineer effective genetic control strategies targeting this malaria mosquito vector. These include targeting the germline to induce sterility or using... Read More about Single-cell profiling of Anopheles gambiae spermatogenesis defines the onset of meiotic silencing and premeiotic overexpression of the X chromosome.

Identification and characterization of two CRISPR-Cas systems associated with the mosquito microbiome (2023)
Journal Article
Hegde, S., Rauch, H. E., Hughes, G. L., & Shariat, N. (in press). Identification and characterization of two CRISPR-Cas systems associated with the mosquito microbiome. Access Microbiology, 5(8), https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000599.v3

The microbiome profoundly influences many traits in medically relevant vectors such as mosquitoes, and a greater functional understanding of host-microbe interactions may be exploited for novel microbial-based approaches to control mosquito-borne dis... Read More about Identification and characterization of two CRISPR-Cas systems associated with the mosquito microbiome.

Identification and characterization of two CRISPR/Cas systems associated with the mosquito microbiome (2023)
Journal Article
Hegde, S., Rauch, H. E., Hughes, G. L., & Shariat, N. (2023). Identification and characterization of two CRISPR/Cas systems associated with the mosquito microbiome. Access Microbiology, 5(8), https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000599.v4

The microbiome profoundly influences many traits in medically relevant vectors such as mosquitoes, and a greater functional understanding of host–microbe interactions may be exploited for novel microbial-based approaches to control mosquito-borne dis... Read More about Identification and characterization of two CRISPR/Cas systems associated with the mosquito microbiome.

Extracellular vesicles derived from umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cells show enhanced anti-inflammatory properties via upregulation of miRNAs after pro-inflammatory priming (2023)
Journal Article
Hyland, M., Mennan, C., Davies, R., Wilson, E., Tonge, D. P., Clayton, A., & Kehoe, O. (2023). Extracellular vesicles derived from umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cells show enhanced anti-inflammatory properties via upregulation of miRNAs after pro-inflammatory priming. Stem Cell Reviews and Reports, 19, 2391–2406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-023-10586-2

Autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, are characterised by a loss of immune tolerance, whereby the immune cells attack self-antigens causing pain and inflammation. These conditions can be brought into remission using pharmaceutical tre... Read More about Extracellular vesicles derived from umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cells show enhanced anti-inflammatory properties via upregulation of miRNAs after pro-inflammatory priming.