Role of chemosensory proteins in taste sense in the mosquito Aedes aegypti, vector of dengue and other arboviruses

Aedes aegypti is an urban mosquito vector of emergent arboviruses, with a huge impact on public health, the economy, and the environment. Mosquitoes use taste organs to guide behaviors such as feeding, biting, and egg-lying. Therefore, taste sense is crucial for their survival and reproduction, and consequently for the spread of arboviruses. It could be a source of targets for new-generation repellents for personal protection. Despite this, the taste system remains understudied in mosquito species. Chemosensory proteins are a family of globular proteins from insects, mainly characterized in olfaction. Recent evidence suggests that the role of these proteins goes far beyond the olfactory system, in processes such as detoxification, insecticide resistance, development, nutrition, etc. Evidence from different species suggests that they could have an understudied role in taste perception. The objective of this project was to describe new components in the mosquito taste molecular machinery, and recognize targets for new-generation repellent compounds. In particular, the experiments aimed to generate evidence on the involvement of CSPs in the taste recognition in adult females of A. aegypti. Progress in understanding the molecular machinery of mosquito taste sense will provide tools for vector control, such as new-generation repellents, with an impact on the spreading of infectious diseases.