Mosquito odorant receptor function

A vast majority of volatile organic compounds are shared in the odour space of distantly related mosquito species. While the structure of the receptors used to detect these odorants differ markedly, the functional characteristics of the odorant receptors are conserved. In this project, I will analyse the functional characteristics of odorant receptors of two disease vectors, Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae, using a reverse chemical ecology approach to elucidate the structure-function relationship of odorant receptors, in an ecological and evolutionary context, using both physiological and functional genomic techniques.

Postdoctoral Researcher: Dr. Gabriela Caballero Vidal (SLU)

Supervision: Dr. Rickard Ignell (SLU), Dr. Sharon Hill (SLU), and Dr. Mats Sandgren (SLU).