Transcriptional responses of Aedes aegypti chemosensory tissues in response to volatile DEET and citronella oil
Ivan Drahun, Jessica M Sparrow, Cody W Koloski, Bryan J Cassone · 2026
Read Transcriptional responses of Aedes aegypti chemosensory tissues in response to volatile DEET and citronella oil by Ivan Drahun, Jessica M Sparrow, Cody W Koloski, Bryan J Cassone (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13551536.txt.
Description
Ivan Drahun's team asked how two common mosquito repellents affect the smell organs of the yellow fever mosquito, in a 2026 study. DEET and citronella oil are among the most used repellents, but their effect on the tissues that sense odours was not fully mapped. The team first ran behaviour tests showing both vapours hampered female Aedes aegypti in reaching a host and feeding on blood.
They then sequenced RNA from antennae, mouthparts, and headless bodies after vapour exposure, finding the largest gene-expression shifts in the mouthparts. Both repellents dampened the three parts of the mosquito carbon-dioxide receptor and genes tied to energy production, while DEET also strongly curbed detox enzymes of the cytochrome P450 family. The work gives a molecular picture of how repellent vapours blunt host seeking.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Ivan Drahun, Jessica M Sparrow, Cody W Koloski, Bryan J Cassone |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 49 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |