Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/R008701/1
Designing LED lights that minimise the attraction of potential malaria vectors
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor G Jones, University of Bristol, Biological Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Bristol, Biological Sciences
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Science Topics:
- Urban & Land Management
- Urban Lighting
- DNA barcoding
- Systematics & Taxonomy
- Bioinformatics
- Metabarcoding
- Environmental Informatics
- Tools for the biosciences
- Molecular analysis
- Abstract:
- Forty percent of the world's population are considered at risk from mosquito-borne malaria, and up to 500 million cases occur each year, resulting in 2.7 million deaths annually. Mosquitos in the genus Anopheles transmit malaria and include a large number of cryptic species that cannot be distinguished by morphological characteristics. Only some of species host the Plasmodium parasite however, and unambiguous identification of these species is only possible by genetic methods. The recent sequencing of the genomes of 16 Anopheles mosquito species [1] allows potential for developing speciesspecific markers for the identification of vector species by DNA barcoding. We will investigate differences in the attraction of malarial vector mosquitos to domestic lights with different spectral properties. Specifically, we will test two hypotheses. 1. New LED domestic lights will attract fewer vector mosquitos than traditional light sources, reducing risks of malaria transmission. 2. The spectral content of LED lights can be manipulated to minimise the attraction of potential malaria vectors. In collaboration with the CASE partners Integral LED, we have recently shown that new LED lights attract fewer insects (including biting midges Culicoides spp.) than traditional tungsten-filament and modern compact fluorescent lights in the UK [2]. We will use a similar experimental design using simultaneous presentation of different light types with similar intensity but different spectral characteristics at replicate sites in the field, and will identify the mosquito species captured at water traps placed under the lamps by using DNA barcoding. Fieldwork will be based in Africa, where nine-tenths of malaria deaths occur (World Health Organisation 2015) at field sites used by Jones's former PhD students working in Malawi and southern Africa. The Bristol supervisor (Jones) pioneered methods for identifying insects DNA in bat droppings by using DNA barcoding ([3], and has more recently used high-throughput Illumina sequencing to identify insect DNA from 157bp mtDNA CO1 fragments amplified using arthropod-specific primers [4]. We will also use direct shotgun sequencing (metagenomic) approaches to identify insect pests in catches. If the results for dipteran captures from our study in the UK are also applicable to mosquitos in Africa, using LEDs as domestic lights may reduce risks of malaria transmission there. We will also manipulate the spectral characteristics of LED lighting (e.g. warm and cool (shorter wavelength) light temperatures) to develop lamps that minimise the attraction of potential malarial vectors. Although our work in the UK found no difference in insect attraction to warm and cold LEDs, studies in the US have found lower insect attraction to warmer LEDs than to LEDs emitting colder light temperatures [5]. The study falls within NERC's remit of Societal Challenges, specifically Resilience to Environmental Hazards. Lighting technologies are changing rapidly on a global scale, and using lighting that minimises attraction of insect disease vectors while simultaneously reducing energy consumption is an important global challenge. 1. Neafsey, D.E., et al. (2015) Science 347: 6217. 2. Wakefield, A., et al., (2016). Ecology and Evolution 6: 8028-8036 3. Zeale, M.R.K., et al. (2011). Molecular Ecology Resources 111: 236-244 4. Hope, P.R., et al. (2014). Frontiers in Zoology 1: 39. 5. Justice, M. (2016). Paper presented at AAAS 2016 Annual Meeting https://www.aaas.org/abstract/light-pollution-andinsects-insect-attraction-various-types-residential-lights
- NERC Reference:
- NE/R008701/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Industrial CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £89,114
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - RTSG | Total - Student Stipend |
|---|---|---|
| £17,480 | £11,000 | £60,637 |
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