Anopheles gambiae mosGILT regulates innate immune genes and zpg expression.

Gene-edited mosquitoes lacking a g amma-interferon-inducible lysosomal thiol reductase-like protein, namely ( ) have lower infection, which is linked to impaired ovarian development and immune activation. The transcriptome of was therefore compared to wild type (WT) by RNA-sequencing to delineate mosGILT-dependent pathways. Compared to WT mosquitoes, demonstrated altered expression of genes related to oogenesis, 20-hydroxyecdysone synthesis, as well as immune-related genes. Serendipitously, the zero population growth gene, , an essential regulator of germ cell development was found to be one of the most downregulated genes in mosquitoes. These results provide the crucial missing link between two previous studies on the role of and in ovarian development. This study further demonstrates that mosGILT has the potential to serve as a target for the biological control of mosquito vectors and to influence the life cycle within the vector.