Introduction to this issue: I don't know if you have heard of a strange disease - African sleep, which is a disease caused by the bite of tsetse flies by a parasite called trypanosomiasis, which is endemic in parts of the sub-Saharan Desert of Africa. Today, we will reveal the relationship between tsetse flies and African sleep disorder!
The tsetse fly feeds only on the blood of humans and herbivores, and when it sucks blood infected with trypanosomiasis, the trypanosomes enter its body to multiply in large numbers, and then when it bites again, it will follow its saliva into the bitten person or animal. Once infected with trypanosomiasis, there will be symptoms such as fever, headache, itching and joint pain at the beginning of the period, and there will also be symptoms such as lack of energy and lethargy, and the probability of death is quite high.
African sleep disorder
Tsetse flies: I can't help myself when I become a vector of disease transmission!
Using gene sequencing techniques, the scientists compared tsetse flies with and without trypanosomiasis to study the patterns of gene presentation within its salivary tissue. The results found that some genes and proteins in the spit line of Tsetse flies in the presence of trypanosomiasis can not behave normally, resulting in poor efficiency and longer time when sucking blood, and experimental data show that the presence of trypanosomiasis is also unfavorable for Tsetse flies themselves.
tsetse
Genetic secrets in the tsetse fly:
Scientists also used gene sequencing technology to find that there are at least two specialized genes in the tsetse fly, allowing it to create a large variety of salivary proteins to combat platelet aggregation, coagulation, vasoconstriction and other adverse blood-sucking conditions. In addition, scientists have also found that tsetse flies have more aquaporin genes than mosquitoes, speculating that tsetse flies will inhale blood of the same weight as themselves at one time, and then quickly excrete excess water in a short period of time, so as to achieve the effect of maintaining the electrolyte balance in their own body.
Tsetse flies suck blood
In another experiment, scientists also found that the tsetse fly lacks genes related to the breakdown of carbohydrates, because it mainly obtains energy by converting proline and alanine, and stores calories in the form of diglycerides and triglycerides, which may cause tsetse flies to die if the blood contains more than 5% sugar.
Tsetse fly cross-sectional view
Moreover, genes related to visual ability have also been found in tsetse flies, the most special of which is the rh5 opsin transmembrane receptor gene, which is generally only manifested in r8p photoreceptor cells, and this photoreceptor cell is particularly sensitive to blue light, so experiments have proved that tsetse flies obviously prefer blue.
According to the World Health Organization, the number of people infected with sleeping sickness in Africa can reach up to 500,000, with more than 40,000 new cases per year. Trypanosomiasis in livestock is one of the biggest threats to the development of livestock in a vast area of sub-Saharan Africa of 8.7 million square kilometres, which can weaken livestock, lose fertility, lose weight and reduce meat and milk production rates by at least 50 percent, and 3 million cattle and other livestock die each year in sub-Saharan Africa. Failure to receive proper treatment can result in death.
How to prevent African sleep disorder?
There is currently no effective vaccine to prevent this "sleep disorder", and mosquito repellents are not effective against tsetse flies. Therefore, the best prevention method is to avoid traveling to areas with a large number of tsetse flies or to avoid wearing blue clothing that will attract tsetse flies.
Avoid wearing blue clothes
Although there is no way to cure African sleep, in the continuous scientific research, it is possible to determine the genome sequence of the tsetse fly, which is already a major scientific breakthrough. I believe that in the near future,
This insect, which is causing serious harm in Africa, can certainly be controlled and thus offer new hope.
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