Trade-offs Between Desiccation Tolerance and Midgut Permissiveness to Arboviruses in AE. AEGYPTI

As the earth warms and climates change, mosquitoes will be pushed into different environments and niches. The goal of our research is to understand the genetic basis of the mosquito's ability to withstand low humidity and determine if these molecular pathways overlap with pathways governing the ability of the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, to efficiently replicate the Zika virus. By utilizing genetically diverse lines of Ae. aegypti, we have identified genes important for tolerating low humidity and have functionally validated their role in Ae. aegypti midgut infection and replication of Zika and chikungunya viruses, indicating the ability to tolerate low humidity and midgut replication are genetically linked.