Eggshell organizing factor 1 protein in Psorophora ferox mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes may serve as vectors for infective agents that cause human pathologies such as West Nile, Zika, and Malaria; and therefore controlling mosquito vector populations is an important step towards protecting human health. In a recent study by Isoe et al. (2019), researchers found that mutation of the Eggshell Organizing Factor 1 (EOF1) protein in Aedes, Culex and Anopheles mosquito genera resulted in 'defective' eggs that were discolored and failed to reach maturity to larvae. One genera that has not been evaluated for the EOF1 protein is Psorophora. The purpose of this study is to determine if the EOF1 protein is present in the species Psorophora ferox. This is an ideal species to study because they can be potential vectors for a variety of pathogens, they belong to the Aedini taxonomic group shared with the Aedes genera which possesses EOF1, and they are highly abundant in the late summer in our ecological preserve. Using published primer sequences, we tested primer combinations known to amplify EOF1 from Anopheles, Aedes and Culex genera on Psorophora extracts. A putative EOF1 gene was shown to be amplified using primer sequence EOF1-36304, and after further sequencing analysis the amplified gene was shown to be identical across each Ps. ferox (99.9 %) sampled thus far. Here we discuss our continued research into the putative Ps. ferox EOF1 gene by further sampling of local Psorophora species, identification of homologous genes in the published nucleotide database, and determination of open reading frames (ORF) of this putative gene as a way to connect this novel Ps. ferox gene to the published EOF1 gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]