Salt perception in disease vectors

BARROZO, R.B.; LATORRE-ESTIVALIS, JOSE MANUEL; ORTEGA INSAURRALDE, ISABEL

Sensory Ecology of Disease Vectors

Wageningen Academic Publishers.

Año: 2022; p. 489 - 509

Saltsare naturally occurring minerals essential for animal life. Systemic deficientor excessive salt levels can result in adverse health effects for most animals,which can only be balanced by ingestion and/or excretion. Salts are detected bythe taste system of all studied insects. This system is the ultimate and trulyreliable sense that helps animals make predictions about the quality of aresource item, e.g., beneficial orharmful. As a general rule for terrestrial blood-feeding insects, lowenvironmental salt detection triggers feeding and egg-laying, whereas high saltpromotes different types of aversive behaviours. Despite the relevance of saltsfor life, the molecular and physiological mechanisms behind salt perceptiononly recently began to be understood. Here, we summarize the current knowledgeabout salt perception in blood-feeding disease vectors. In particular, we focuson representative insects in two orders, Diptera (mosquitoes) and Hemiptera(kissing bugs), the most studied insects regarding salt sensing.