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A Comparative Study of Catalase Activity in Culiseta annulata (Schrank) and Culex pipiens L. (Diptera, Culicidae)

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Abstract

Catalase is an antioxidant enzyme, which is important for lifespan extension and stress resistance during diapause in overwintering mosquitoes. Based on the preliminary observations on abundancies of Culiseta annulata (Schrank) and species of the genus Culex, overwintering in the Sablino Caves (Northwestern Russia), it was hypothesized that catalase activity in hibernating females might vary between species. When the individuals of Cs. annulata and Culex spp. on cave walls were counted during overwintering and their numbers were compared, a similar decrease in their numbers was found, but when catalase activity was analyzed, a significant difference between Cs. annulata and Cx. pipiens pipiens L. was revealed, with higher activity in Cs. annulata. Higher catalase activity in Cs. annulata, as compared with that in Cx. p. pipiens, was also revealed in males collected in fall, which indicates the true interspecific differences (not linked with blood consumption) and suggests a better resistance of Cs. annulata to low temperatures. The results also suggest that catalase activity may be a tool for chemotaxonomy of mosquitoes.

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Notes

  1. Referred according to Hesson et al. (2014), if the two Culex species with very similar females were not discriminated.

  2. Medians are preferable to describe samples when the data distribution is skewed or the skewness of distribution is hypothesized. When the distribution is normal, the median value is equal to the mean value.

  3. Among the six males of Culex analyzed for catalase activity, one individual was identified post hoc by genitalia morphology as Culex torrentium; its catalase activity was 94.28 micromoles of hydrogen peroxide consumed per minute per 1 mg of protein, which is close to the median value for the Cx. pipiens sample. Also, one male of Anopheles maculipennis s. l. was captured on September 29 in a cave entrance and had the value of catalase activity similar to that of the Culex males: 99.87 micromoles of hydrogen peroxide consumed per minute per 1 mg of protein.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Dr. Anna-Polina Shurygina (Research Institute of Influenza, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia) for help in estimation of hydrogen peroxide molar extinction coefficient. I am also grateful to Dr. Tatiana Sulesco (Institute of Zoology, Chisinau, Moldova), Dr. Sergey Aibulatov and Dr. Alexei Khalin (Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences) for their advice in studying mosquito biology.

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  1. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. V. Razygraev

  2. St. Petersburg State Chemical Pharmaceutical University, Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development of Russian Federation, 197376, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. V. Razygraev

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  1. A. V. Razygraev
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Correspondence to A. V. Razygraev.

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All applicable international, national, and institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted.

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Razygraev, A.V. A Comparative Study of Catalase Activity in Culiseta annulata (Schrank) and Culex pipiens L. (Diptera, Culicidae). Entmol. Rev. 100, 162–169 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873820020037

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