Heritability of attractiveness to mosquitoes

Mandela Fern�ndez-Grandon, G.; Gezan, Salvador A.; Armour, John A.L.; Pickett, John A.; Logan, James G.

Abstract

Female mosquitoes display preferences for certain individuals over others, which is determined by differences in volatile chemicals produced by the human body and detected by mosquitoes. Body odour can be controlled genetically but the existence of a genetic basis for differential attraction to insects has never been formally demonstrated. This study investigated heritability of attractiveness to mosquitoes by evaluating the response of Aedes aegypti (=Stegomyia aegypti) mosquitoes to odours from the hands of identical and non-identical twins in a dual-choice assay. Volatiles from individuals in an identical twin pair showed a high correlation in attractiveness to mosquitoes, while non-identical twin pairs showed a significantly lower correlation. Overall, there was a strong narrow-sense heritability of 0.62 (SE 0.124) for relative attraction and 0.67 (0.354) for flight activity based on the average of ten measurements. The results demonstrate an underlying genetic component detectable by mosquitoes through olfaction. Understanding the genetic basis for attractiveness could create a more informed approach to repellent development.

Citation

Mandela Fernández-Grandon, G., Gezan, S. A., Armour, J. A., Pickett, J. A., & Logan, J. G. (in press). Heritability of attractiveness to mosquitoes. PLoS ONE, 10(4), Article e0122716. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122716

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 14, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Apr 22, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 21, 2016
• Journal: PLoS ONE
• Electronic ISSN: 1932-6203
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: e0122716
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122716
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/749245
• Publisher URL: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122716
• Contract Date: Jun 21, 2016