Radiation exposure induces genome-wide alternative splicing events in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Abstract Sterile insect technique is a method to control insect pest populations by sterilizing males with ionizing radiation. However, radiation sickness lowers the fitness of sterilized males. In this study, we investigate impacts of ionizing radiation on gene transcription, specifically alternati...

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Main Authors: Harley Bendzus-Mendoza, Amanda Rodriguez, Tathagata Debnath, C. Donovan Bailey, Hailey A. Luker, Immo A. Hansen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-94529-6
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author Harley Bendzus-Mendoza
Amanda Rodriguez
Tathagata Debnath
C. Donovan Bailey
Hailey A. Luker
Immo A. Hansen
author_facet Harley Bendzus-Mendoza
Amanda Rodriguez
Tathagata Debnath
C. Donovan Bailey
Hailey A. Luker
Immo A. Hansen
author_sort Harley Bendzus-Mendoza
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Sterile insect technique is a method to control insect pest populations by sterilizing males with ionizing radiation. However, radiation sickness lowers the fitness of sterilized males. In this study, we investigate impacts of ionizing radiation on gene transcription, specifically alternative splicing events in irradiated male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. We compared RNA sequencing data from mosquitoes irradiated with a single standard X-ray dose of 50 Grey and un-irradiated control mosquitoes using the Multivariate Analysis of Transcript Splicing computational tool. We found that radiation exposure caused alternative splicing events in 197 genes that are involved in a variety of biological processes including the Hippo and Notch cell signaling pathways. Our results suggest that radiation damage produced by ionizing radiation can alter the splicing of genes involved in important biological functions in male Ae. aegypti mosquitoes. These findings identify several new leads for new projects aimed at understanding the impact of radiation-induced alternative splicing on mosquito fitness and improving sterile insect technique by the development of radio-resistant mosquito strains.
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spelling doaj-art-c47a07e87b7b4975bafc06a52ddf85f42025-08-20T03:40:49ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-03-0115111210.1038/s41598-025-94529-6Radiation exposure induces genome-wide alternative splicing events in Aedes aegypti mosquitoesHarley Bendzus-Mendoza0Amanda Rodriguez1Tathagata Debnath2C. Donovan Bailey3Hailey A. Luker4Immo A. Hansen5Department of Computer Science, New Mexico State UniversityDepartment of Biology, New Mexico State UniversityDepartment of Computer Science, New Mexico State UniversityDepartment of Biology, New Mexico State UniversityDepartment of Biology, New Mexico State UniversityDepartment of Biology, New Mexico State UniversityAbstract Sterile insect technique is a method to control insect pest populations by sterilizing males with ionizing radiation. However, radiation sickness lowers the fitness of sterilized males. In this study, we investigate impacts of ionizing radiation on gene transcription, specifically alternative splicing events in irradiated male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. We compared RNA sequencing data from mosquitoes irradiated with a single standard X-ray dose of 50 Grey and un-irradiated control mosquitoes using the Multivariate Analysis of Transcript Splicing computational tool. We found that radiation exposure caused alternative splicing events in 197 genes that are involved in a variety of biological processes including the Hippo and Notch cell signaling pathways. Our results suggest that radiation damage produced by ionizing radiation can alter the splicing of genes involved in important biological functions in male Ae. aegypti mosquitoes. These findings identify several new leads for new projects aimed at understanding the impact of radiation-induced alternative splicing on mosquito fitness and improving sterile insect technique by the development of radio-resistant mosquito strains.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-94529-6Aedes aegyptiRadiationDifferential spliced genesAlternative splicingrMATS
spellingShingle Harley Bendzus-Mendoza
Amanda Rodriguez
Tathagata Debnath
C. Donovan Bailey
Hailey A. Luker
Immo A. Hansen
Radiation exposure induces genome-wide alternative splicing events in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
Scientific Reports
Aedes aegypti
Radiation
Differential spliced genes
Alternative splicing
rMATS
title Radiation exposure induces genome-wide alternative splicing events in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
title_full Radiation exposure induces genome-wide alternative splicing events in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
title_fullStr Radiation exposure induces genome-wide alternative splicing events in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
title_full_unstemmed Radiation exposure induces genome-wide alternative splicing events in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
title_short Radiation exposure induces genome-wide alternative splicing events in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
title_sort radiation exposure induces genome wide alternative splicing events in aedes aegypti mosquitoes
topic Aedes aegypti
Radiation
Differential spliced genes
Alternative splicing
rMATS
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-94529-6
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AT cdonovanbailey radiationexposureinducesgenomewidealternativesplicingeventsinaedesaegyptimosquitoes
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AT immoahansen radiationexposureinducesgenomewidealternativesplicingeventsinaedesaegyptimosquitoes