Using Whole Genome Sequencing to Characterise the Genetic Diversity of Mosquitoes and Pathogens Involved in Vector Borne Disease

Aedes mosquitoes are important vectors of many diseases including, Dengue, Zika virus and Chikununya. Anopheles mosquitoes are also major vectors of disease, most noteably malaria. These disease cause major mortality and morbidity worldwide. The main methods of controlling these diseases is interruption of vector contact usually involving insecticides. The vectors carrying these diseases are quickly evolving resistance to these insectides. Moreover many of the pathogens they carry are evolve quickly due to selective pressure such as exposure to drugs. These changes in their genome are of interest and could confer resistance to insecticides, drugs or changes in virulence. Therefore I am hoping to investigate the genetic diversity of both the mosquitoes and their pathogens.

The main aims of the project are:
- To design and test amplicon sequencing platform for rapid screening of Aedes genetic diversity in a selection of genes;
- Identify genes and mutations of interest in Aedes - particularly looking at mutations conferring insecticide resistance and immunity to infection
- Create new reference genomes for Anopheles and Aedes species in South America (eg. Anopheles darlingi)
- Develop fast point of care screening test to detect pathogens in mosquitos and mutations associated with insecticide resistance

The skills I will gain by completing this are:
- Learn how to carry out sequencing using Oxford minion and Illumina sequencer platforms
- Computational bioinformatics and population genetics skills analysing genetic sequences
- Field work skills collecting mosquito samples along side with collaborators

Keywords: bioinformatics, genetic diversity, infectious disease, epidemiology