Mosquitoes transmit a broad range of human parasitic and viral diseases, within which malaria is still today’s most devastating infectious disease with a worldwide prevalence of over 400 million cases and 2 million deaths per year. Though Anopheles mosquitoes are the major vectors of human malaria, their ability to transmit malaria parasites are under large variations. The dynamic immune interaction between the vector host and the malaria pathogen determines the success of Plasmodium development and continuation of the subsequent disease transmission cycle. I am broadly interested in molecular characterization the interactions between the malaria parasite Plasmodium and its vector mosquito Anopheles, with a particular interest in the characterization of specificity of pathogen recognition in the mosquito’s immune system. And I am seeking to develop novel strategies to control mosquito transmitted diseases. My research interests could be summarized as following:

1) Global transcriptomic comparison of Anopheles gambiae immune responses to different pathogens.

2)Identification of molecular mechanisms for mosquitoes to achieve the pathogen recognition specificity

-AgDscam, a hypervariable immunoglobulin domain-containing receptor of the A. gambiae innate immune system.

-Fibrinogen-domain immuno-lectins, a large gene family fighting against pathogens.

Malaria, Mosquito Innate Immunity, host-pathogen interactions, functional genomics

1. Dong, Y. and G. Dimopoulos (2008) Anopheles fibrinogen immune lectins: a large gene family fighting against pathogens. (in preparation)

2. Dong, Y. and G. Dimopoulos (2008) The hyper-variable pattern recognition receptor, AgDscam, in the anti-Plasmodium defense. (in preparation)

3. Waterhouse, R.M., E.V. Kriventseva, S. Meister, Z. Xi, K.S. Alvarez, L.C. Bartholomay, C. Barillas-Mury, G. Bian, S. Blandin, B.M. Christensen, Y. Dong, et al. (2007) Evolutionary dynamics of immune-related genes and pathways in disease-vector mosquitoes. Science 316: 1738-1743.

4. Warr, E., S. Das, Y. Dong, and G. Dimopoulos (2008) The GNBP gene family: Its role in the innate immune system of Anopheles gambiae and in anti-Plasmodium defense. Insect Mol. Biol.17: 39-51.

5. Aguilar, R.*, S. Das*, Y. Dong*, and G. Dimopoulos (2007) Continuous exposure to Plasmodium results in decreased susceptibility and transcriptomic divergence of the Anopheles gambiae immune system. BMC Genomics 8: 451. (*: contributed equally)

6. Warr, E., R. Aguilar, Y. Dong, V. Mahairaki, and G. Dimopoulos (2007) Spatial and sex-specific dissection of the Anopheles gambiae midgut transcriptome. BMC Genomics 8: 37.

7. An, Q., Y. Dong, W. Wang, Y. Li, and J. Li (2007) Constitutive expression of the nifA gene activates associative nitrogen fixation of Enterobacter gergoviae 57-7, an opportunistic endophytic diazotroph. J. Appl. Microbiol. 103: 613-620.

8. Dong, Y., H.E. Taylor, and G. Dimopoulos (2006) AgDscam, a hypervariable immunoglobulin domain-containing receptor of the Anopheles gambiae innate immune system. PLoS Biology 4: 1137-1146.

9. Dong, Y., R. Aguilar, Z. Xi, E. Warr, E. Mongin, and G. Dimopoulos (2006) Anopheles gambiae immune responses to human and rodent Plasmodium parasite species. PLoS Pathogens 2: 513-525.

10. Baton, L.A., Y. Dong, J. Li, and G. Dimopoulos (2006) Variation in mosquito immunity to Plasmodium. In: Proceedings of the 11th International Congress of Parasitology, ICOPA XI, Glasgow, UK. August 6-11, 2006. (review article)

11. Xu, X.*, Y. Dong*, E.G. Abraham, A. Kocan, P. Srinivasan, A.K. Ghosh, R.E. Sinden, J.M. Ribeiro, M. Jacobs-Lorena, F.C. Kafatos, and G. Dimopoulos (2005) Transcriptome analysis of Anopheles stephensi-Plasmodium berghei interactions. Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. 142: 76-87. (*: contributed equally)

12. Aguilar, R., Y. Dong, E. Warr, and G. Dimopoulos (2005) Anopheles infection responses; laboratory models versus field malaria transmission systems. Acta Trop. 95: 285-291. (review article)

13. Iniguez, A.L., Y. Dong, H.D. Carter, B.M. Ahmer, J.M. Stone, and E.W. Triplett (2005) Regulation of enteric endophytic bacterial colonization by plant defenses. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 18: 169-178.

14. Iniguez, A.L., Y. Dong, and E.W. Triplett (2004) Nitrogen fixation in wheat provided by Klebsiella pneumoniae 342. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 17: 1078-1085.

15. Dong, Y., A.L. Iniguez, and E.W. Triplett (2003) Quantitative assessments of the host range and strain specificity of endophytic colonization by Klebsiella pneumoniae 342. Plant & Soil 257: 49-59.

16. Dong, Y., A.L. Iniguez, B.M. Ahmer, and E.W. Triplett (2003) Kinetics and strain specificity of rhizosphere and endophytic colonization by enteric bacteria on seedlings of Medicago sativa and Medicago truncatula. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 1783-90.

17. Dong, Y., M.K. Chelius, S. Brisse, N. Kozyrovska, R. Podschun, and E.W. Triplett (2003) Comparisons between two Klebsiella: the plant endophyte K. pneumoniae 342 and a clinical isolate, K. pneumoniae MGH78578. Symbiosis 35: 247-259.

18. Scupham, A.J., Y. Dong, and E.W. Triplett (2002) Role of tfxE, but not tfxG, in trifolitoxin resistance. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 4334-4340.

19. Riggs, P.J., R.L. Moritz, M.K. Chelius, Y. Dong, A.L. Iniguez, S.M. Kaeppler, M.D. Casler, and E.W. Triplett (2002) Isolation and characterization of diazotrophic endophytes from grasses and their effects on plant growth. In: Nitrogen Fixation: Global Perspectives, Proceedings of the 13th International Congress on Nitrogen Fixation, T.R. Finan, M.R. OíBrian, D.B. Layzell, J.K. Vessey, W.E. Newton, eds. pp. 263-267.

20. Dong, Y., J.D. Glasner, F.R. Blattner, and E.W. Triplett (2001) Genomic interspecies microarray hybridization: rapid discovery of three thousand genes in the maize endophyte, Klebsiella pneumoniae 342, by microarray hybridization with Escherichia coli K-12 open reading frames. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 1911-1921.