Peptide signals that control Ae. aegypti mosquito mating behaviors

Ae. aegypti mosquitoes are vectors for pathogens that cause Zika, dengue fever, and chikungunya. A single mating event provides a female with sperm to fertilize all of the offspring she will produce for the rest of her life. During mating, male mosquitoes transfer peptide signals that act on receptors expressed in the female that block her from mating with other males. This enforces his paternity and ensures that he is the father of all of her offspring. These signals can also be used in a form of competition between two species termed “satyrization” when males of one species inappropriately “mate” with females of another species and block females from mating with males of their own species. This prevents the females from successfully reproducing, effectively sterilizing them. We aim to identify peptides transferred from the male to the female, determine which receptors they activate in the female, and ask how interspecies competition may affect these receptors. The molecules that we discover could be used to develop new ways to control mosquito populations by blocking female reproduction.