Andrew Pike

TL;DR: The first genome sequence of a nondipteran insect vector of an important human parasitic disease is described, which provides critical information on the physiology and evolution of this important vector species and should be instrumental for the development of innovative disease control methods.

TL;DR: It is shown that in the Anopheles malaria vector, IMD and Toll pathways mediate species-specific defenses against Plasmodium and bacteria through the transcriptional regulation of splicing factors Caper and IRSF1 that, in turn, determine the production of pathogen-specific splice variant repertoires of the hypervariable pattern recognition receptor AgDscam.

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that both the immune deficiency (IMD) and Toll pathways are activated by the Wolbachia strain wAlbB upon its introduction into A. aegypti, indicating that host innate immunity is utilized to establish and promote host-microbial symbiosis.

TL;DR: The first draft of the mosquito protein interaction network indicates the presence of common host requirements for DENV in mosquitoes and humans and discusses the significance of the findings for pharmacological intervention and genetic modification of mosquitoes for blocking dengue transmission.

TL;DR: A novel role for insect cytoplasmic actin is described as an extracellular pathogen recognition factor that mediates antibacterial defense in Anopheles gambiae and mosquito populations.