Autor(es): Mishra, K; Raj, DK; Hazra, RK; Dash, AP

Resumo: An artificial feeding unit has been designed and constructed to feed laboratory-bred Aedes aegypti with a radioisotope (S-35), so that the mosquitoes' polypeptides can be labelled in vivo. In the unit, a piece of Parafilm M barrier film is stretched over the bottom, outer surface of a polystyrene Petri dish, to create a small gap in which the mixture of blood and radio-isotope is placed. Warm water is placed in the dish, to keep the blood at about 37 degrees C. When such units were placed on net-covered rearing cages, almost all (80% - 90%) of the female mosquitoes in the cages took bloodmeals from them. When checked by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and autoradiography 1 h after feeding had begun, the blood-fed mosquitoes were found to have radio-labelled polypeptides. The unit is simple, easy to handle, disposable and can be used to offer small blood samples (>= 50 mu l) to Ae. aegypti and, presumably, other mosquito species.

Imprenta: Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology, v. 99, n. 8, p. 803-806, 2005

Identificador do objeto digital: 10.1179/136485905X65189

Descritores: Aedes aegypti - Biochemistry

Data de publicação: 2005

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