Location: Arthropod-borne Animal Diseases Research
Project Number: 3020-32000-018-003-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2017
End Date: Jul 31, 2022
Objective:
The purpose of this agreement is to enhance the understanding of the molecular and microbiological processes influencing the biology of dipteran vectors including their development and vector competence for pathogens.
Approach:
Ongoing projects by ARS aim to understand the molecular biology, microbial ecology and behavior of dipteran vectors that transmit diseases to livestock and humans. This agreement will facilitate a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates molecular genetics, microbiology, insect physiology and other subdisciplines with entomology in order to determine and study the biology of dipteran vectors such as house flies. This includes but is not limited to the microbial ecology of dipteran larvae, the microbe-molecular interactions of pathogens with the fly alimentary canal, the molecular-genetic basis of vector competence, and the comparative genomics and transcriptomics across dipteran vectors (e.g. house flies, stable flies, horn flies, etc.).