Meeting Abstract
The physiology of carbon dioxide elimination in the larval mosquito, a potential target for controlling the animals that cause more than 1 million deaths each year, is poorly understood. It is known that one method of carbon dioxide removal is by direct diffusion through the larva’s cuticle. However, the molecular components that propagate this transcuticular diffusion are unknown. Previous study has shown that carbonic anhydrases 9 and 10, the anion exchanger AE1, and Na+/K+ ATPase play critical roles in pH regulation of the alimentary canal by ionizing carbon dioxide and transporting its ionic derivative, bicarbonate (Linser et al. 2009). The purpose of this study is to determine where these three molecular components are located in the tracheal system of Aedes aegytpi and Culex pipiens larvae. Paraffin sectioning, whole mount preparation, antibody labeling, confocal microscopy, and protein analysis by SDS- page western blot were used to achieve these goals. The immunohistochemical data strongly suggests that all three components are present in their predicted locations. The western blot suggests that carbonic anhydrase 9 is present in the tracheal epithelium, but its presence in the hemolymph is inconclusive. The hypothesized molecular physiology of each component is supported by the data.
