Transmission regulating immune genes: A potential strategy to control vector-borne disease

More than 1 million people die every year from vector-borne diseases, which constitute more than 17% of all infectious diseases. This study's primary focus was on the detailed evolutionary history and expression analysis of immune genes, one of the key gene families in the immune system of vectors that play a role in the regulation and interaction of parasites in vector bodies, particularly the mosquitoes that transmit malaria and dengue, the two most significant vector-borne diseases.

The vector potentiality and participation of TLR genes in vector parasite interaction in the Indian context is explained by the differential expression study of this potential gene family in Indian population of vector species.

This knowledge undoubtedly supports for creating new pharmacological targets and inhibitors that can create insect-based transmission-stopping techniques for many vector-borne diseases.

However, the genetic diversity was found to be comparatively lower in the TolllA gene than in the NOS immune gene in the malaria vector Anopheles minimus population samples which supports the hypothesis of positive selection in recent evolutionary time scale in malaria vectors. This is one of the novel strategies to identify transmission-regulating genetic traits that control vector-parasite interaction and co-evolution in vector-borne diseases.