Biology subjects

Pereira, M. H.

Publications and source records attributed to Pereira, M. H..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

New insights on the Feeding Site and Salivation by Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) During Blood Ingestion on Host Skin

Phlebotomine sand flies are major vectors of Leishmania parasites, yet the mechanisms underlying their blood-feeding behavior remain poorly understood. In Lutzomyia longipalpis, the primary vector of Leishmania infantum in the Americas, feeding occurs via telmophagy, a pool-feeding method which is known by involving dermal laceration, salivation, and the creation of a blood pool. While the biochemical effects of sand fly saliva on host hemostasis, inflammation, and immunity are well studied, the dynamics of mouthpart movements and saliva at the feeding site remain to be systematically explored. Using intravital microscopy, fluorescent saliva labelling and image analysis, we characterized the mechanical actions of mouthparts and the spatial-temporal patterns of salivation during feeding on mammalian skin. Our recordings indicate that the labrum and hypopharynx are the most prominent mouthparts during feeding and exhibit scissor-like movements during probing. At specific moments, these structures close forcefully, generating small blood splashes in multiple directions. Feeding occurred in two distinct phases: an initial probing phase, often distinguished by ineffective blood intake, and a subsequent engorgement phase that was initiated exclusively upon the activation of small dermal "feeder vessels."Acridine Orange labelling showed abundant early salivation that penetrated progressively deeper into the dermis and remained detectable for over an hour, reflecting both the tissue damage and enzymatic effects. The analysis of images demonstrated the sequential salivation events, highlighting an initial high-frequency phase followed by a more gradual pattern during engorgement. These findings provide the first real-time, detailed view of the coordinated interactions between mouthpart mechanics, targeted salivation, and host microvascular responses in Lu. longipalpis. This study redefines sand fly telmophagy as a non-passive and coordinated process integrating mouthpart mechanics, salivation, and modulation of host vasculature. This work advances our understanding of sand fly vector-host interactions and underscores the potential of salivary molecules as targets for transmission-blocking strategies. Author SummaryPhlebotomine sand flies are the main vectors of Leishmania infantum, the parasite responsible for visceral leishmaniasis in the Americas. Although sand flies are traditionally classified as "pool feeders," meaning they lacerate the skin and feed from small pools of blood, the mechanics of how they obtain blood and deliver saliva into host skin have remained poorly understood. In this study, we used image analysis, intravital microscopy and fluorescent labeling of saliva to visualize, in real time, the feeding behavior of Lutzomyia longipalpis on mammalian skin. We show that blood feeding is not a passive process based solely on blood pooling. Instead, it involves coordinated movements of the mouthparts, modulation of host microvessels with the saliva contribution, and the recruitment of small dermal "feeder vessels" that supply blood directly to the insect. Our findings reveal that sand fly feeding is a highly orchestrated interaction between vector and host, integrating mechanical tissue disruption, salivary secretion, and vascular responses. These processes likely create a favorable microenvironment for Leishmania establishment and transmission. By providing a detailed characterization of mouthpart and salivation dynamics, this study advances our understanding of sand fly biology and highlights salivary components and feeding-site events as potential targets for transmission-blocking strategies.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Response to thermal and infection stresses in an American vector of visceral leishmaniasis.

The phlebotomine sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis is the primary insect vector of visceral leishmaniasis in the Americas. For ectothermic organisms such as sand flies, the ambient temperature is a critical factor influencing all aspects of their life. However, the impact of temperature has been ignored in previous investigations of stress-induced responses by the vector, such as taking a blood meal or during Leishmania infection. Therefore, this study explored the interaction of Lu. longipalpis with temperature by evaluating sand fly behaviour across a thermal gradient after sugar or blood-feeding, and infection with Leishmania mexicana. Thermographic recordings of sand fly females fed on mice were analysed, and the gene expression of heat shock proteins HSP70 and HSP90(83) was evaluated when insects were exposed to extreme temperatures or infected. The results showed that 72h after blood ingestion females of Lu. longipalpis became less active and preferred relatively low temperatures. However, at later stages of blood digestion females increased their activity and remained at higher temperatures prior to taking a second blood meal; this behaviour seems to be correlated with the evolution of their oocysts and voracity for a second blood meal. No changes in the temperature preferences of female sand flies were recorded in the presence of a gut infection by Le. mexicana, indicating that this parasite has not triggered behavioural immunity in Lu. longipalpis. Real-time imaging showed that the body temperature of female flies feeding on mice increased to the same temperature as the host within a few seconds after landing. The body temperature of females remained around 35 {+/-} 0.5 {degrees}C until the end of blood-feeding, revealing a lack of thermoregulatory behaviour. Analysis of expression of heat shock proteins revealed insects increased expression of HSP90(83) when exposed to higher temperatures, such as during blood feeding. Our findings suggest that Lu. longipalpis interacts with the environmental temperature by using its behaviour to avoid temperature-related physiological damage during the gonotrophic cycle. However, the expression of certain heat shock proteins might be triggered to mitigate against thermal stress in situations where a behavioural response is not the best option.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Soft ticks perform evaporative cooling during blood-feeding

Feeding on the blood of warm-blooded vertebrates is associated to thermal stress in haematophagous arthropods. It has been demonstrated that blood-sucking insects protect their physiological integrity either by synthesising heat-shock proteins or by means of thermoregulatory mechanisms. In this work, we describe the first thermoregulatory mechanism in a tick species, Ornithodoros rostratus. By performing real-time infrared thermography during feeding on mice we found that this acarian eliminates big amounts of fluid (urine) through their coxal glands; this fluid quickly spreads over the cuticular surface and its evaporation cools-down the body of the tick. The spread of the fluid is possible thanks to capillary diffusion through the sculptured exoskeleton of Ornithodoros. We discuss our findings in the frame of the adaptive strategies to cope with the thermal stress experienced by blood-sucking arthropods at each feeding event warm-blooded hosts.

zoology↗

bioRxiv2019

The Drosophila fertility factor kl-3 is linked to the Y-chromosome of the vector of Chagas’ disease Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) and is essential for male fertility

In many insects, the Y chromosome plays a key role in sexual determination and male fertility. The Chagas disease vector Triatoma infestans has 22 autosomal chromosomes and a pair of XY sex chromosomes. However, the knowledge on the Y chromosome of this species, its genetic content or its biological function, is very poor. Due to repetitive DNA, Y chromosome sequences are poorly assembled in genome projects, hindering structural and functional studies on Y-linked genes. Our group has developed many of the bioinformatic tools to identify Y-linked sequences in assembled genomes. Here, we describe the identification of a {gamma}-dynein heavy chain linked to the Y-chromosome of T. infestans. This protein is orthologous to the Drosophila melanogaster Y-linked gene kl-3. In D. melanogaster, dyneins of the Y chromosome are known as male fertility factors and their deletion causes male infertility. We performed knockdown of the kl-3 expression to ascertain its function in T. infestans. Our results showed that injection of dsKL3 reduced, significantly, the fertility of T. infestans males (p<0.01). The mean number of eggs laid by the control group was 35.64 eggs/couple while the kl-3 knockdown group was of 11.82 eggs/couple (five couples did not lay any eggs). Differences in eclosion rate was even more significant, with a hatching mean rate of 16.85{+/-}10.03 and 1.69{+/-}3.58 (p<0.001) for the control and the silenced groups respectively. Our results suggest that kl-3 maintains its functional role as essential for male fertility in T. infestans. Hence, it seems that the Y-chromosome of T. infestans has a key role in male fertility. This is the first report of a kl-3 orthologue linked to the Y chromosome of an insect species outside the diptera clade. In addition to the first report of a Y-linked gene in T. infestans with a role for male fertility, this finding is of great relevance for the study of the evolution of Y chromosomes and further studies that could lead to novel approaches in insect control.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Analysis of the testis transcriptome of the Chagas’ disease vector Rhodnius prolixus

Rhodnius prolixus is amongst the most important vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi in the Americas, putting thousands of people at risk of contracting Chagas Disease. This insect is also one of the most important models in insect physiology, especially regarding the blood-feeding process. However, studies on R. prolixus genetics lagged, and our understanding on the regulation of gene expression is incipient. Transcriptomes have the power to study the expression of thousands of genes in a single experiment. A comprehensive R. prolixus transcriptome was performed in 2014, sequencing RNA from different tissues (anterior gut, midgut, posterior gut, rectum, ovaries, fat body, maphigian tubules, and testicles). However, on that occasion, only the gut transcriptome was deeply analysed. Here we evaluated the results of the testicles transcriptome of R. prolixus with the objective to find and understand genes that could have an important role in male reproduction. We found, that from the 25,673 transcripts assembled in the whole transcriptome, 5,365 have a testicle specific expression pattern. As expected, amongst the most abundant families of transcripts, are those related to spermatogenesis and male fertility, such as myosins, actins, and dyneins. To our surprise, lipocalins, serine protease inhibitors (serpins), and lysozymes also were highly abundant in testicles. The role of these classes of genes are well known in other tissues, such as salivary glands and gut, but very little is known on their role in male reproduction (and we proposed here a few hypothesis that could be tested to address the role of these genes in male fertility). It would be interesting to study further the role of these genes on R. prolixus male fertility. Finally, as a reflection of the lack of knowledge on triatomine genetics, we found that almost half of the transcripts in R. prolixus testicles have no similarities to any other genes on reference databases. Our study shows that we still have a lot to know and to understand about reproduction in triatomine, especially in males. Besides the large number of genes without described function (possibly novel genes), there are those in which the function is known for other tissues, and we can only guess, at best, the role and importance of such genes for triatomine male fertility. Author SummaryThe understanding of the biology of insects vectors of parasitic diseases is key to the development of strategies of public health. For decades, the studies on the biology of male insects vectors of diseases was neglected, since in many cases female insects are those with relevant role in the spread of diseases. With the development of genomics, large scale studies to compare differential gene expression (transcriptomics) among different tissues, developmental stages, and sex became accessible. In this study, we looked at the physiology of the male reproductive organs of the vector of Chagas disease Rhodnius prolixus. This is a first glimpse, from a perspective of genes differentially expressed in male gonads, in such insects. We also performed an effort to link all identified genes with the insect genome published in 2015. We found ~14,000 genes expressed in the testicles, from which 5,635 genes are expressed exclusively in male reproductive organs. From the ~14,000 genes, we were able to attribute putative biological functions to 6,372 genes, which allowed us to draw a bigger picture on how these genes contribute to male fertility. This study now opens the door for further in-depth studies to find key genes for R. prolixus reproductive biology.

genomics↗