Fighting Malaria with Engineered Symbiotic Bacteria from Vector Mosquitoes Group B05 Asia Hernandez Bridget Larsen Jiangyang Xu Zac Kannan

Introduction Inside mosquito guts: Plasmodium Bacteria Genetic Modification of mosquito genome = too hard Plasmodium-killing gene into bacteria BIG advantage: gut = most vulnerable part of Plasmodium’s life cycle Figure 1. Figure 2.

Results Inhibitory capacity of recombinant strains on P. falciparum mPLA2 85% Por:EPIP 87% Shival 94% Scorpine and (EPIP) 4 highest inhibition ~98% Effect of mixing bacteria expressing two different effector proteins on P. falciparum Shival + (EPIP) 4 93% Scorpine + (EPIP) 4 96% Inhibitory capacity of recombinant strains on P. berghei (SMI) 2 68% Pbs + (EPIP) 4 79% Scorpine + (EPIP) 4 83%

Results Recombinant P. agglomerans strains do not affect mosquito longetivity No negative impact on mosquto fitness Figure 3.

Discussion P. agglomerans has been reported as a dominant symbiotic bacterium in various mosquito species A mosquitoes' midgut serves as a prime target for blocking parasite transmission P. agglomerans was engineered to make several proteins turn the mosquitoes gut into a hostile zone for Plasmodium The bacteria could be transferred to a village via baiting stations

Baiting Stations Potential loading docks of the genetically modified bacteria to the mosquito Contained cotton pads soaked with the bacteria suspended in a 5% sucrose solution Mosquitoes fly over, sip the solution, then become loaded with the anti-Plasmodium defense Simple and cheap Pitfalls

Conclusion Advantages of the method No drugs used to terminate mosquitoes Plasmodium in the midgut Rapid proliferation after a blood meal The challenges it will face Less competitive than normal bacteria Growing opposition in general of genetic modification The work to prove, educate, and convince others

“Take Home…” We have a discovered a foundation to combat malaria through the use of genetically modified symbiotic bacteria, but still face a challenge through population approval and regulatory issues.

Works Cited Engineering Mosquito Gut Bacteria to Fight Malaria. Discover Magazine, Web. bacteria-to-fight-malari/ > bacteria-to-fight-malari/ Freeman et al. Biological Science. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Print. Wang, Sibao et al “Fighting Malaria With Engineered Symbiotic Bacteria From Vector Mosquitoes.” PNAS July 31. Vol. (109) No. 31: Web. Nov Images Figure 1: Engineering Mosquito Gut Bacteria to Fight Malaria. Discover Magazine, Web. bacteria-to-fight-malari/> bacteria-to-fight-malari/ Figure 2: Menard, Robert. The Plasmodium Life Cycle and Antimalarial Vaccination Strategies. Nature, Jan Web. Nov Figure 3: Wang, Sibao et al. “Fighting Malaria With Engineered Symbiotic Bacteria From Vector Mosquitoes.” PNAS July 31 (2012) Vol. 109, No. 31: Web. Nov 2012.