Project Number: 1275-32000-001-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Dec 10, 2004
End Date: Dec 09, 2009

Objective:
Objective 1: Discover and develop next generation topical skin repellents, spatial repellents, contact irritants, and toxicants against mosquitoes and other arthropod disease vectors. Research toward this objective will primarily involve a consortium of military, government, academic, and private industry research groups using high throughput bioassays to test model compounds selected via computational chemistry from the large chemical library maintained by the BASF Corporation. Objective 2: Develop new technology for preparation of fabrics having insect controlling and/or repelling properties. Repellent compounds will be covalently bonded to fabric polymers, and the resulting polymers will be tested to determine if repellent activity against mosquitoes is retained; if these derivatized polymers are repellent, then research will continue to optimize conditions required to produce insect repellent fabrics. Objective 3: Identify the mechanisms underlying the activity of key mosquito repellents and attractants, and develop ways to exploit the mechanisms for commercial use. This objective will focus on state-of-the-art application of odorant binding protein (OBP) research by covalently bonding cloned mosquito OBPs to HPLC columns for use in screening natural product and synthetic chemical libraries for binding activity. Bound compounds will be identified and tested in conventional behavioral bioassays for activity against mosquitoes. Also, the mechanisms of action for selected compounds will be investigated electrophysiologically, including single cell recording experimentation to pinpoint the sites of receptors involved in the perception of bioactive compounds.

Approach:
Discover and develop next generation topical skin repellents, spatial repellents, contact irritants, and toxicants against mosquitoes and other arthropod disease vectors. Develop new technology for preparation of fabrics having insect controlling and/or repelling properties. Identify the mechanisms underlying the activity of key mosquito repellents and attractants, and develop ways to exploit the mechanisms for commercial use.