Iron deposition and ferritin accretion in the ovaries of the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (948.9)

Abstract

Malaria and yellow fever are transmitted from mosquitoes to humans through a mosquito bite. Mosquitoes require the essential nutrients from a blood meal, including iron, for oogenesis. Very little research has been conducted to elucidate the effect of iron on mosquito fecundity. Understanding the mechanism of iron deposition in the ovary is important to finding potential strategies to interfere with mosquito fecundity, decrease mosquito populations, and reduce transmission rates of vector‐borne diseases. To this end, Aedes aegypti (yellow fever mosquito) ovaries were dissected from non‐blood fed, 24 h post‐blood meal (PBM), and 72 h PBM animals to measure tissue iron accumulation after a blood meal by iron inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS). Dissected ovaries were also stained with Prussian Blue to visualize ferric iron deposition. Our results indicate that iron is present in the ovary prior to a blood meal and accumulates over time PBM, and the deposition of ferric iron is observed in different areas of the tissue before and after a blood meal. Immunohistochemistry imaging of the ovaries shows three different subunits of the iron storage and transport protein, ferritin, are present and differentially localized in the tissue. Coalescence of ferritin and iron in mosquito ovaries may suggest that the role of ferritin in this tissue is for the deposition of iron in oogenesis and ovarian homeostasis.Grant Funding Source: Supported by funds from the Arizona Ag Experiment Station, CALS, UBRP and the Honors College