Vector (biology)
A vector in biology is an animal on or in which a small living thing gets transported. The vector gets no benefit and sometimes loses fitness by the arrangement.
The term is most used for the transport of parasites and agents of disease. So, deadly diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, are carried by some mosquitoes.
The study of vectors gives us knowledge about the life cycle of parasitic diseases, and this helps us control those diseases.
Examples[edit | edit source]
Insects[edit | edit source]
Flies[edit | edit source]
- Mosquitoes
- Mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus transmit human malaria and elephantiasis (a roundworm disease).[1]
- Aedes mosquitoes are vectors of avian malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and chikungunya (a viral disease).[2]
- Sand flies transmit leishmaniasis, bartonellosis and pappataci fever.[3]
- Tsetse flies Several genera are vectors of human African trypanosomiasis also known as "African sleeping sickness".[4]
Bugs[edit | edit source]
- Aphids are the vectors of many viral diseases in plants.[5]
- Triatomine bugs such as Rhodnius prolixus are vectors of Chagas disease.[6]
Other insects[edit | edit source]
- Fleas such as the human flea, Pulex irritans and the Oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis, transmit bubonic plague, murine typhus and tapeworms.[7] Rodents, such as rats and mice carry the fleas, and spread them.[8][9]
- Glassy-winged sharpshooter (a leafhopper) transmits the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium among plants, resulting in diseases of grapes, almonds, and many other cultivated plants.[10]
Other groups[edit | edit source]
- Ticks of the genus Ixodes are vectors of Lyme disease and babesiosis.[11] and along with lice transmit various members of the bacterial genus Rickettsia.[12]
- Cyclopoid copepods: a number of species transmit the nematode Dracunculus medinensis.[13]
- Mammals
- Bats which represent about 20% of all known mammalian species act as both a natural reservoirs for viruses such as the Hendra virus (HeV) and the SARS like coronaviruses[14][15] and in many cases as a vector for various viruses such as the lyssaviruses including the rabies virus.[16][17]
- Felids (cats) are the primary hosts for Toxoplasma gondii a parasitic protozoan which causes Toxoplasmosis.[18] Approximately 30% of the human population is infected with Toxoplasmosis.[19]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "MicrobiologyBytes: Malaria".
- ↑ CDC: Aedes albopictus
- ↑ "Stages in the identification of phlebotomine sandflies as vectors of leishmaniases and other tropical diseases".
- ↑ "Trypanosomiasis, human African (sleeping sickness)". www.who.int.
- ↑ "Metapathogen.com Is For Sale". www.metapathogen.com.
- ↑ "Chagas disease". www.who.int.
- ↑ http://www.ttlntl.co.uk/3/Diseases/fleas.htm Taking the Lead: Fleas
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ "Almeida Lab". Almeida Lab.
- ↑ "Metapathogen.com Is For Sale". www.metapathogen.com.
- ↑ "Rickettsial Diseases, including Typhus and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever". www.textbookofbacteriology.net.
- ↑
- ↑ Halpin K, Young PL, Field HE, Mackenzie JS. Isolation of Hendra virus from pteropid bats: a natural reservoir of Hendra virus. Journal of General Virology. 2000 Aug;81(Pt 8):1927-32. PMID 10900029
- ↑ Li W, Shi Z, Yu M, Ren W, et al. Bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-like coronaviruses. Science. 2005 Oct 28;310(5748):676-9. Epub 2005 Sep 29. PMID 16195424
- ↑ McColl KA, Tordo N, Aguilar Setién AA. Bat lyssavirus infections. Rev Sci Tech. 2000 Apr;19(1):177-96. PMID 11189715
- ↑ Arellano-Sota C. Rev Infect Dis. 1988 Nov-Dec;10 Suppl 4:S707-9. Vampire bat-transmitted rabies in cattle. PMID 3206085
- ↑
- ↑ Vivan AL, Caceres RA, Basso LA, et al.Structural studies of PNP from Toxoplasma gondii. Int J Bioinform Res Appl. 2009;5(2):154-62. PMID 19324601
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