Master of Science / Department of Biochemistry / Michael R. Kanost / Laccases are multicopper oxidases that catalyze the oxidation of a broad range of substrates, typically phenols and anilines. Research on laccases in fungi, plants, and bacteria has indicated that they have roles in detoxification, pigmentation, wound healing, morphogenesis and lignin synthesis and degradation. However, there has been relatively little investigation on laccases that exist in insects or other invertebrates. Insects have multiple laccase genes, but the function of just one type is known; laccase-2 (Lac2) orthologs are required for tanning of newly synthesized exoskeleton. In the mosquito Anopheles gambiae and other insect species whose genomes have been sequenced, alternative exon splicing may generate two isoforms of Lac2. The objective of this study was to characterize the two isoforms of AgLac2. They are identical in their first 500 residues, but the carboxyl-terminal 262 residues derived from alternative exons are 81% identical. Recombinant Lac2A and Lac2B were expressed and purified. They are both glycoproteins of ~81 kDa, and both can oxidize the laccase substrate ABTS as well as the catechols, N-β-alanyldopamine (NBAD) and N-acetyldopamine (NADA). Lac2A and Lac2B with ABTS have pH optima of 5.0-5.5 and 4.5-5.0, respectively. The pH optima with NBAD and NADA are 5.5-6.5. The Km values (mM) for Lac2A and Lac2B with NBAD are 5.4 ± 2.1 and 5.0 ± 2.6, respectively. The Km values (mM) for Lac2A and Lac2B with NADA are 0.7 ± 0.2 and 1.4 ± 0.5, respectively. Thus, there is little difference between the isoforms in K[subscript]m for these two substrates. The K[subscript]m values do indicate that both isoforms have a greater affinity for the substrate NADA. The kcat values (s[superscript]-1) for Lac2A and Lac2B with NBAD are 14.2 ± 3.5 and 6.0 ± 1.8, respectively. The k[subscript]cat values (s[superscript]-1) for Lac2A and Lac2B with NADA are 2.4 ± 0.2 and 0.5 ± 0.04, respectively. The most apparent difference between the two isoforms detected in the study is that Lac2A was four-fold more active than Lac2B when NADA was used as a substrate. Although the two isoforms are very similar in their amino acid sequences, the differences in catalytic properties may indicate different roles in insect physiology.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit haben wir unter Nutzung bioinformatischer Methoden eine innovative Strategie zur Eindämmung der Malaria entwickelt. Die genetische Modifikationsstrategie beinhaltet sowohl Manipulationen aufseiten des gefährlichsten Erregers, Plasmodium falciparum, als auch des Hauptvektors, Anopheles gambiae. In den Genomen beider Spezies wurden eine Reihe neuer konkreter targets identifiziert. Auch bereits beschriebene targets und Ansätze wurden in die Strategie einbezogen bzw. weiter ausgestaltet. Bezüglich der Vektormoskitos wird die Verbreitung eines gegenüber Plasmodien resistenten Genotyps angestrebt. Es werden einerseits effiziente natürliche und künstliche Resistenzgene diskutiert und andererseits eine bekannte Strategie zur Fixierung natürlicher Resistenzallele in natürlichen Populationen verbessert. Auf der Seite der Plasmodien erweiterten wir einen bereits von A. Burt (2003) beschriebenen Eradikationsansatz um weitere targets. Aus ethischen und evolutionsbiologischen Erwägungen bevorzugen wir jedoch eine alternative Strategie, welche die Etablierung von in ihrer Virulenz gemilderten Parasiten zum Ziel hat. Der attenuierte Genotyp wird unter anderem durch komplexe Pathway-Remodellierungen beschrieben (Löwe, Sauerborn, Schirmer, Dandekar, A refined genome engineering strategy against parasites and vectors, Manuskript beim Journal „Genome Biology“ eingereicht). Da sich Mutanten in der Natur gegen Wildtyp-Organismen kaum durchsetzen können, werden zwei drive-Systeme beschrieben, welche für die Implementierung der genetischen Manipulationsstrategie entwickelt wurden. Beide Konstrukte wurden zur Patentierung angemeldet (Patentanmeldung U30010 DPMA bzw. Aktenzeichen 102006029354.1). Zusätzlich zur deutschen wurde für eines der beiden Konstrukte eine PCT-Anmeldung eingereicht, welche in Zukunft einen internationalen Patentschutz ermöglichen soll. Es werden Kalkulationen vorgelegt, welche die Verbreitungstendenzen der Konstrukte in natürlichen Populationen vorhersagen. Die Beschreibung der entwickelten Konstrukte beschränkt sich nicht auf das primäre Anwendungsgebiet der Arbeit (Malaria), sondern beinhaltet auch andere Anwendungsgebiete, vor allem im Bereich der Medizin und Molekularbiologie. / Background: Gene drive strategies are an important alternative to control tropical diseases such as malaria. Results: Here we introduce a new gene drive strategy based on gene conversion constructs. We identify a gene drive strategy both for plasmodia and for anopheles including design of an inducible modification vector. Our constructs are based on group II introns or homing endonuclease genes. They include besides the intron to modify vector or parasite genome sites inducible promoters for gene activation. We thus separate gene modification from activation of the modified gene. Moreover, we provide a detailed list of suitable targets in vector and plasmodia for the modification strategy. Finally, we discuss the control effect of an eradication strategy versus a mild strategy of the gene construct for vector and parasite populations. Conclusions: A new eukaryotic vector and parasite control strategy using gene drive systems is presented and discussed.

Mes travaux de thèse portent sur deux gènes cpbAg1 et cpbAg2 qui codent des enzymes digestives : les carboxypeptidases digestives du moustique Anopheles gambiae, vecteur majeur africain de Plasmodium falciparum, parasite responsable des formes graves du paludisme. La contribution de CPBAg1 dans le développement de P. falciparum chez An. gambiae a été démontrée ainsi qu'un rôle potentiel dans la production des oeufs du moustique (Lavazec et al., 2005 & 2007). Cependant le rôle potentiel de CPBAg2 dans ces deux phénotypes n'avait pas été abordé. Nos travaux ont permis de montrer des propriétés enzymatiques différentes pour chaque carboxypeptidase, avec CPBAg1 qui libère de l'arginine et de la lysine tandis que CPBAg2 est spécifique de l'arginine. La cinétique d'apparition in vivo des protéines montre une production précoce de CPBAg1 et une production constante de CPBAg2 au cours du processus de digestion du repas sanguin. L'analyse fonctionnelle de CPBAg1 et CPBAg2 utilisant l'inactivation génique par ARN interférence a permis de comprendre leurs rôles respectifs. Ainsi, CPBAg1 est impliquée dans le développement de P.falciparum chez An. gambiae, suggérant une plus forte dépendance du parasite pour les ressources en lysine. A l'inverse, CPBAg2 intervient au cours de la vitellogénèse du moustique et son inactivation induit également un retard du développement ovarien. Ainsi, ce dernier semble être plus dépendant de l'arginine, produit principalement par CPBAg2. CPBAg1 et CPBAg2 pourraient de ce fait être utilisées comme les cibles de nouvelles stratégies pour diminuer la transmission du paludisme, en bloquant le parasite chez le moustique tout en diminuant la production d'oeufs.

La lutte anti-vectorielle est une composante importante de la lutte contre les maladies à transmission vectorielle. La connaissance des populations vectorielles, tant dans leur composition spécifique que dans leur répartition spatio-temporelle, est fondamentale pour la conception des stratégies de lutte contre ce type de maladie.Cette thèse a modélisé la distribution spatiale des formes moléculaires M et S d'Anopheles gambiae s.s., des vecteurs majeurs du paludisme au Burkina Faso. La modélisation a été faite à partir de l'analyse d'une série d'observations portant à la fois sur les vecteurs et l'environnement. Elle procède d'une combinaison de concepts et méthodes de biogéographie avec des techniques et outils d'analyse spatiale, d'analyse des données et des systèmes d'informations géographiques.Nous retenons de ce travail de recherche que l'abondance de la forme moléculaire S d'Anopheles gambiae s.s., diminue au fur et à mesure que l'on évolue des régions humides du sud et du sud-ouest vers celles les plus arides du nord et du nord-est. Le NDVI, l'ETP, et l'insolation sont les facteurs les plus déterminants de sa distribution spatiale. Par contre, l'abondance de la forme moléculaire M d'Anopheles gambiae s.s. augmente des régions humides du sud et du sud-ouest vers celles plus arides du nord et du nord-est. L'altitude, la pression, l'insolation, la densité de végétation sont les facteurs les plus déterminants de cette répartition spatiale. De ces résultats, ont été dérivés deux modèles qui ont servi à l'élaboration des cartes de distribution des formes moléculaires M et S d'Anopheles gambiae s.s.Enfin, cette thèse révèle le rôle de l'approche géographique dans la réflexion sur les questions de santé et sa méthodologie pourrait être testée sur d'autres sites et pour d'autres vecteurs de maladies. Elle peut s'enrichir d'une analyse multi échelle et d'une modélisation de la variabilité temporelle.

Diss. (sammanfattning). Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Current anti-malarial methods have been effective in reducing the number of malarial cases. However, these methods do not completely block the transmission of the parasite. Research has shown that repeated use of the current anti-malarial drugs, which include artemisinin-based drug combinations, might be toxic to humans. There have also been reports of an emergence of artemisinin-resistant parasites. Finding anti-malarial drugs through the drug discovery process takes a long time and failure results in a great financial loss. The failure of drug discovery projects can be partly attributed to the improper selection of drug targets. There is thus a need for an eff ective way of identifying and validating new potential malaria drug targets for entry into the drug discovery process. The availability of the genome sequences for the Plasmodium parasite, human host and the Anopheles mosquito vector has facilitated post-genomic studies on malaria. Proper utilizationof this data, in combination with computational biology and bioinformatics techniques, could aid in the in silico prioritization of drug targets. This study was aimed at extensively annotating the protein sequences from the Plasmodium parasites, H. sapiens and A. gambiae with data from di fferent online databases in order to create a resource for the prioritization of drug targets in malaria. Essentiality, assay feasibility, resistance, toxicity, structural information and druggability were the main target selection criteria which were used to collect data for protein annotations. The data was used to populate the Discovery resource (http://malport. bi.up.ac.za/) for the in silico prioritization of potential drug targets. A new version of the Discovery system, Discovery 2.0 (http://discovery.bi.up.ac.za/), has been developed using Java. The system contains new and automatically updated data as well as improved functionalities. The new data in Discovery 2.0 includes UniProt accessions, gene ontology annotations from the UniProt-GOA project, pathways from Reactome and Malaria Parasite Metabolic Pathways databases, protein-protein interactions data from. IntAct as well as druggability data from the DrugEBIlity resource hosted by ChEMBL. Users can access the data by searching with a protein identi er, UniProt accession, protein name or through the advanced search which lets users filter protein sequences based on different protein properties. The results are organized in a tabbed environment, with each tab displaying different protein annotation data. A sample investigation using a previously proposed malarial target, S-adenosyl-Lhomocysteine hydrolase, was carried out to demonstrate the diff erent categories of data available in Discovery 2.0 as well as to test if the available data is su fficient for assessment and prioritization of drug targets. The study showed that using the annotation data in Discovery 2.0, a protein can be assessed, in a species comparative manner, on the potential of being a drug target based on the selection criteria mentioned here. However, supporting data from literature is also needed to further validate the findings. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Biochemistry / unrestricted

No description available.

No description available.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted through the bites of infected females of a few Anopheles mosquito species. Understanding the chromosome evolution and mechanisms of speciation can shed light on developing novel ecological-friendly vector control techniques. Sibling species of the An. gambiae complex provide an excellent model system for these topics. To understand the mechanisms of speciation, we investigated the cellular basis and phenotypes of hybrid male sterility in species crosses of the An. gambiae complex. By performing inter-species crosses of An. coluzzii/An. gambiae and An. merus lab strains, we found an asymmetric pattern of hybrid male sterility existed in sons from reciprocal interspecies crosses. Compared with pure species, hybrid males from crosses of ♀An. merus  ♂An. gambiae/An. coluzzii were normal in the morphology of male reproductive tracts; however, the testes of which that process the reductional meiotic division failed to produce primary spermatocytes and were accompanied with unpaired and insufficiently condensed chromosomes. As a result, primary spermatocytes undergo a mitosis-like anaphase division, producing nonmotile and malfunctional diploid sperm with two tails. However, individuals can mate with females normally and form the mating plug to induce the female monogamy. In contrast, hybrid males from the opposite crosses manifest severely underdeveloped reproductive tracts and a premeiotic arrest of germline stem cells in the testis, accompanied by a strong suppression of premeiotic and meiotic genes. In addition, hybrid males from this cross suffered from a shorter copulation time and failed to form mating plugs to induce female monogamous behaviors, albeit the expression of male accessory gland specific genes were similar between hybrids and pure species. To figure out chromosome evolution in the An. gambiae complex, we studied the molecular organization of heterochromatin and investigated the spatial organizations of autosomal regions of polytene chromosomes in soma and germline cells. We found that molecular composition of pericentrometric autosome and sex chromosome repetitive DNA differs among sibling species of An. gambiae complex with highly similarity between An. coluzzii and An. arabiensis. In addition, heterochromatin blocks of chromosomes have distinct compositions of satellite DNA sequences. Next, in order to address the relationship between inter-chromosomal (Chr-Chr) contacts and chromosome-nuclear envelope (Chr-NE) attachments during the development of the organism, we conducted microscopic analyses of the 3D organization of polytene chromosome in An. gambiae, An. coluzzii, and An. merus. Our quantitative study on chromosome territories in larval salivary gland cells and adult ovarian nurse cells showed that, compared with autosomal arms, the X chromosome has a significantly smaller volume and occupies more compact territories. The number of Chr-Chr contacts and the percentage of Chr-NE attachment were conserved among the species within the same cell type. Our data also demonstrated that there is a significantly and consistently inverse relationship between the frequencies of Chr–NE and Chr–Chr attachments on autosomes of two cell types in all tested species. / Doctor of Philosophy / Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted through the bites of infected females of a few Anopheles mosquito species. Despite being treatable and preventable, malaria is estimated to cause large numbers of deaths every year. Since 2015, the malaria elimination program has stalled largely due to increased insecticide resistance. Novel transgenic techniques have a huge potential in reducing malaria transmission more effectively. However, there are large concerns about the potential negative effects of releasing genetically modified mosquitoes, such as a possibility of accidental spread to non-target species with incomplete reproductive barriers and unpredicted ecological damage. Understanding the mechanisms of speciation about how reproductive isolation occurred and developed as well as chromosome evolution can not only empower the development of ecologically friendly vector control techniques but also improve our basic knowledge. To study mechanisms of speciation, we mated males and females from different closely related species in the Anopheles gambiae complex to investigate the fecundity of hybrid generations. Our study identified two different types of reproductive abnormalities leading to hybrid male sterility. Hybrid males from female An. merus and male An. gambiae or An. coluzzii have normal appearing testes and male accessary glands but the testes produce abnormal sperms, which cannot move and have two tails. Hybrid males from female An. gambiae or An. coluzzii and An. merus have severely underdeveloped testes and male accessary glands. The sperm producing process stops unusually very early in their tiny underdeveloped testes. We also investigated chromosome evolution in species of An. gambiae complex. We found that chromosomal parts containing repetitive DNA, the sequence in the genome not producing proteins, evolve rapidly in An. coluzzii, An. arabiensis, An. quadriannulatus, and An. merus. In contrast, chromosome territories of gene rich regions in giant polytene chromosomes from larval salivary gland cells and adult ovarian nurse cells of An. gambiae, An. coluzzii, and An. merus, were relatively conserved within the same cell type among different species. However, the chromosomal 3D distribution pattern is different among various cell types in these species.

My graduate work focused on the syntheses and pharmacology of species-selective aryl methylcarbamate acetylcholinesterase inhibitors to combat the malaria-transmitting mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. We identified six novel carbamates that demonstrated levels of target selectivity exceeding our project milestone of 100-fold. Among the C2-substituted phenylcarbamates examined (class II), 2'-(2- ethylbutoxy)phenyl N-methylcarbamate (9bd*) was extraordinarily selective (570-fold ± 72). The high level of selectivity observed for many of the class II carbamates was attributed to a helical displacement within the active site of An. gambiae acetylcholinesterase, able to accommodate carbamates with larger C2-substituted secondary β-branching side chains. Conversely, this type of side chain forms unfavorable interactions within the active site of human acetylcholinesterase. The C3-substituted carbamates (class I), such as terbam (9c), were less selective than many of the class II carbamates; however, class I carbamates related to terbam (9c) were highly toxic to An. gambiae. In particular, the contact toxicity measured for 9c (LC₅₀ = 0.037 mg/mL) was equal to the commonly used agricultural insecticide, propoxur (9a, LC₅₀ = 0.037 mg/mL). In total, seventy aryl carbamates were screened for their inhibition potency and contact toxicity towards An. gambiae. The common final step in all of these syntheses was the carbamoylation of a phenol, which normally proceeded in a 70 to 90% yield. Thirty seven novel carbamates are reported out of the seventy two prepared. Although sixteen of the phenols were commercially available, the others were prepared with known and adapted synthetic methodologies. The emerging structure-activity relationships led us to focus on the synthesis of 3-tert-alkylphenols (Class I) and 2-alkoxy or 2-alkylthio-substituted phenols (Class II). Three methods particularly stand out: First, we applied the methods of Tanaka to prepare 3-tert-alkylphenols wherein a methyl group was replaced by a trifluoromethyl group. Second, we adapted the methods of Tanaka to prepare 3-tert-alkylphenols that lack fluorine substitution. This method is competitive with the little known method of Reetz to convert aryl ketones to the corresponding 1,1-dimethylalkyl group and allows one to access electron rich tert-alkyl-substituted aromatics that are not accessible by the Friedel-Crafts alkylation (Friedel-Crafts restricted). Third, we found a convenient and high-yielding method for selective S-alkylation of 2-mercaptophenol. In addition to the synthesis of carbamates, the preparation of one hundred three intermediates, phenols, and electron rich tert-alkyl arenes are reported. / Ph. D.