Biology subjects

Weng, S.-C.

Publications and source records attributed to Weng, S.-C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Mosquito Cell Atlas: A single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of the adult Aedes aegypti mosquito

The female Aedes aegypti mosquitos remarkable ability to hunt humans and transmit pathogens relies on her unique biology. Here, we present the Aedes aegypti Mosquito Cell Atlas, a comprehensive single-nucleus RNA sequencing dataset of more than 367,000 nuclei from 19 dissected tissues of adult female and male Aedes aegypti, providing cellular-level resolution of mosquito biology. We identify novel cell types and expand our understanding of sensory neuron organization of chemoreceptors to all sensory tissues. Our analysis uncovers male-specific cells and sexually dimorphic gene expression in the antenna and brain. In female mosquitoes, we find that glial cells in the brain, rather than neurons, undergo the most extensive transcriptional changes following blood feeding. Our findings provide insights into the cellular basis of mosquito behavior and sexual dimorphism. The Aedes aegypti Mosquito Cell Atlas resource enables systematic investigation of cell type-specific expression across all mosquito tissues.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2024

Establishing a Male-Positive Genetic Sexing Strain in the Asian Malaria Vector Anopheles stephensi

Genetic biocontrol interventions targeting mosquito-borne diseases require the release of male mosquitoes exclusively, as only females consume blood and transmit human pathogens. This reduces the risk of spreading pathogens while enabling effective population control. Robust sex sorting methods to enable early larval sorting in mosquitoes need to be developed to allow for scalable sex sorting for genetic biocontrol interventions. This study applies the SEPARATOR (Sexing Element Produced by Alternative RNA-splicing of A Transgenic Observable Reporter) system, previously developed for Aedes aegypti, to the Asian malaria vector Anopheles stephensi. We hypothesized that the intron from the doublesex gene in Anopheles gambiae would function in An. stephensi due to evolutionary conservation. Our results confirm that the splicing module from An. gambiae operates effectively in An. stephensi, demonstrating evolutionary conservation in sex-specific splicing events between these species. This system enables reliable positive male selection from first instar larval to pupal stages. RT-PCR analysis demonstrates that male-specific EGFP expression is dependent on doublesex sex-specific splicing events. The SEPARATOR systems independence from sex-chromosome linkage confers resistance to meiotic recombination and chromosomal rearrangements. This approach may facilitate the mass release of males, and the cross-species portability of SEPARATOR establishes it as a valuable tool for genetic biocontrol interventions across various pest species.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2023

Efficient Sex Separation by Exploiting Differential Alternative Splicing of a Dominant Marker in Aedes aegypti

Only female mosquitoes consume blood and transmit deadly human pathogens. Therefore, it is critical to remove females before conducting releases for genetic biocontrol interventions. Here we describe a robust sex-sorting approach termed SEPARATOR (Sexing Element Produced by Alternative RNA-splicing of A Transgenic Observable Reporter) that exploits sex-specific alternative splicing of an innocuous reporter to ensure exclusive dominant male-specific expression. Using SEPARATOR, we demonstrate reliable sex selection from larval and pupal stages in Aedes aegypti, and use a Complex Object Parametric Analyzer and Sorter (COPAS(R)) to demonstrate scalable high-throughput sex-selection of first instar larvae. Additionally, we use this approach to sequence the transcriptomes of early larval males and females and find several genes that are sex-specifically expressed in males. SEPARATOR can simplify mass production of males for release programs and is designed to be cross-species portable and should be instrumental for genetic biocontrol interventions.

bioengineering↗