Project Number: 6615-32000-042-20
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jan 11, 2008
End Date: Jan 11, 2011

Objective:
The objective of this project is to develop predictive models and bioanalytical methods to identify and characterize potent mosquito attractants and inhibitors.

Approach:
The approach is to use drug discovery computational tools to determine the structure-activity relationships of known mosquito attractants and inhibitors, and use these results to develop predictive models to screen compound libraries for new, potentially potent, mosquito attractants and inhibitors. We will demonstrate the approach using relevant data for the Aedes aegypti (or appropriate) mosquito species based on our discussions with USDA personnel. The project is broken down into three tasks: (1) Develop structure-activity/structure-property models for mosquito attractants and inhibitors (Note: This requires access to data developed by the USDA); (2) Improve the olfactometer assay and implement the single sensillum assay to quantify structure-activity relationships of attractants and inhibitors (Note: This requires two-way interaction between SwRI and the USDA); and, (3) Use models developed in Task 1 to identify new compounds and validate their performance using the bioassays of Task 2 (Note: This requires USDA support to conduct testing of predicted compounds). SwRI seeks to report results from this work at conferences and in peer-reviewed journals.