“A mosquito’s perspective on what makes us different”

By:

Matthew DeGennaro, Ph.D.

Director, Biomolecular Sciences Institute

Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences

Co-Director, Transdisciplinary Training in Biomolecular and Biomedical Sciences T32

Investigator, Southeastern CDC CoE in Vector-Borne Diseases

Florida International University, Miami Florida

Abstract

Some humans are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, leaving some individuals more vulnerable to vector borne disease. Mosquitoes use multiple sensory cues to find their human hosts of which body odor plays a crucial role. Human odor is strongly influenced by an individual’s skin microbiome, as the human body would be largely odorless if not for the volatile organic compounds produced by the commensal bacteria on the human skin. Multiple studies have shown that skin microbiota play an important role in generating volatile compounds from sweat but studies are limited and only use Anopheline mosquitoes. Using a uniport olfactometer to measure mosquito attraction of Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes, 119 human subjects were tested for their attractiveness to these three species. The skin microbiome and volatilome of each subject was sampled in the same session to capture an odor and microbial profile. By examining the interaction of attraction, volatilome, and skin microbiome across subjects, our work aims to understand what makes mosquitoes target some people more than others.

Lunch will be provided.