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Evolution of mosquito preference for humans linked to an odorant receptor

Overview of attention for article published in Nature, November 2014
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (96th percentile)

Citations

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389 Dimensions

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826 Mendeley
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2 CiteULike
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Title
Evolution of mosquito preference for humans linked to an odorant receptor
Published in
Nature, November 2014
DOI 10.1038/nature13964
Pubmed ID
Authors

Carolyn S. McBride, Felix Baier, Aman B. Omondi, Sarabeth A. Spitzer, Joel Lutomiah, Rosemary Sang, Rickard Ignell, Leslie B. Vosshall

Abstract

Female mosquitoes are major vectors of human disease and the most dangerous are those that preferentially bite humans. A 'domestic' form of the mosquito Aedes aegypti has evolved to specialize in biting humans and is the main worldwide vector of dengue, yellow fever, and chikungunya viruses. The domestic form coexists with an ancestral, 'forest' form that prefers to bite non-human animals and is found along the coast of Kenya. We collected the two forms, established laboratory colonies, and document striking divergence in preference for human versus non-human animal odour. We further show that the evolution of preference for human odour in domestic mosquitoes is tightly linked to increases in the expression and ligand-sensitivity of the odorant receptor AaegOr4, which we found recognizes a compound present at high levels in human odour. Our results provide a rare example of a gene contributing to behavioural evolution and provide insight into how disease-vectoring mosquitoes came to specialize on humans.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 130 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 826 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 6 <1%
Brazil 3 <1%
Germany 2 <1%
France 2 <1%
Portugal 2 <1%
United Kingdom 2 <1%
Taiwan 2 <1%
Canada 1 <1%
Mexico 1 <1%
Other 5 <1%
Unknown 800 97%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 171 21%
Researcher 164 20%
Student > Master 104 13%
Student > Bachelor 97 12%
Student > Doctoral Student 40 5%
Other 117 14%
Unknown 133 16%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 354 43%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 106 13%
Neuroscience 45 5%
Environmental Science 31 4%
Medicine and Dentistry 25 3%
Other 107 13%
Unknown 158 19%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 576. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 20 March 2024.
All research outputs
#41,169
of 25,559,053 outputs
Outputs from Nature
#3,559
of 98,240 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#293
of 271,429 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nature
#35
of 1,026 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,559,053 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 98,240 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 102.6. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 271,429 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 1,026 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.