By Michelle Z. Donahue
As average annual temperatures
increase, mosquitoes have also been on the move—up the mountains of the Hawaiian
islands. Once a refuge for native birds susceptible to mosquito-transmitted
avian malaria, altitude no longer guarantees safety from a disease that can
kill them in a matter of days.
The question of what may happen
to these endangered birds as their environments continue to shift due to
climate change is key to their ultimate survival. The answer may lie in their
genes.
Over the next several years,
bird, malaria and mosquito experts from Rutgers University, the Smithsonian,
and other research organizations will be working to sequence genomes of the
amakihi, a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper with populations that appear to be
developing resistance or tolerance to avian malaria. They’ll also be sequencing
genomes of the southern house mosquito (Culex
quinquefasciatus) and the malaria parasite it carries, Plasmodium relictum, both invasive to
Hawaii.
The National Science Foundation
awarded the team a four-year, $2.5
million grant to conduct the work.
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