# Genomic Analysis of Aedes aegypti Host Preference Across Urban-Rural Gradients in Africa

> **NIH NIH K22** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2024 · $108,000

## Abstract

Project Summary
The goal of this project is to understand how populations of the important disease vector Aedes aegypti are
responding to rapid urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa. The proposed work is designed to 1) test in the field
whether host-seeking females in the rapidly growing cities of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Kumasi, Ghana
show greater attraction to human hosts than host-seeking females in nearby rural areas and 2) to identify the
specific genes driving this behavioral shift. The proposed work builds on my recently published finding that
laboratory colonies of Ae. aegypti established from dense urban areas were more attracted to human hosts
than laboratory colonies established from nearby rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa; these behavioral shifts
were associated with genetic differences in a few key chromosomal regions. Modeling based on United
Nations projections of urban growth suggested that these effects will increase dramatically in the next 30
years. I will use paired mosquito traps baited with human and non-human animal odors to test preference for
human hosts across urban-rural gradients in Ouagadougou and Kumasi, building on productive and pre-
existing collaborations. In a parallel analysis using a molecular barcoding approach, I will separate blood-fed
individuals into sets that chose human or non-human animal hosts, and determine whether differences in host
preference translate into differences in rates of feeding on human hosts. Using low-coverage whole genome
sequencing of mosquitoes from both of these collections, I will simultaneously identify genomic shifts across
this urban-rural gradient and identify specific genes involved in driving individual differences in host preference.
This work will clarify the causes and evolutionary mechanisms underlying rapid changes in vector populations,
and provide key tools for monitoring and preventing the emergence and spread of mosquito-borne disease in
high-risk regions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10840781
- **Project number:** 5K22AI166268-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Noah H Rose
- **Activity code:** K22 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $108,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-05-12 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10840781

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10840781, Genomic Analysis of Aedes aegypti Host Preference Across Urban-Rural Gradients in Africa (5K22AI166268-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10840781. Licensed CC0.

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