Effects of Photoperiod on the Daily Activity of the Northern House Mosquito, Culex pipiens
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Date
2023-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Culex pipiens, the Northern House mosquito, is an important vector of West Nile virus. Females of Cx. pipiens are capable of surviving the undesirable conditions of winter through a state of suspended development known as diapause. Mosquito diapause is triggered by the short days of late summer and early autumn. More recent research suggests that an underlying endogenous mechanism known as the circadian clock measures seasonal changes in length of day and is therefore involved in initiating diapause. To date, few studies have examined the individual differences of circadian activity between diapausing and non-diapausing Cx. pipiens. Additionally, differences in circadian activity of wild-type mosquitoes and mutant mosquitoes that are missing the cycle (cyc) gene have also not been conducted. Currently, the Meuti lab is in the process of rearing sufficient numbers of cyc-null mutants to examine how the absence of this gene affects both daily activity and seasonal phenotypes. The goal of my thesis research was to characterize the circadian activity of wild type diapausing and non-diapausing mosquitoes. I found that there is a significant difference in activity between wild type diapausing and non-diapausing mosquitoes. Mosquitoes reared in long day diapause-averting conditions showed more activity than mosquitoes reared in short day diapause-inducing conditions. This is consistent with seasonal patterns in mosquito host-seeking activity which occur during summer days and are absent during the winter. Future studies with the cyc-null mutants could further reinforce these findings as it could show that without that important circadian clock gene, mosquitoes could have arrhythmic patterns and may no longer show seasonal differences in host seeking or other circadian activities.