Igor Sharakhov - Russia

What I Did

The goal of my international travel was to build a new global partnership between Virginia Tech and Moscow State Regional University in Moscow, Russia and to advance existing global partnership between Virginia Tech and Tomsk State University in Tomsk, Russia. During my visit of Tomsk State University from November 29 to December 17, I collaborated with Dr. Gleb N. Artemov on reconstructing evolutionary history of Eurasian and North-American malaria mosquitoes using chromosomal rearrangements. During my visit of Moscow State Regional University during December 18-24, I collaborated with Dr. Mikhail I. Gordeev on processes and mechanisms of population dynamics of mosquitoes in response to climate change.

Short-term accoomplishments and long-term goals

During my three-week-long visit to Tomsk State University, Dr. Artemov and I conducted phylogenetic analyses of Eurasian and North American mosquito species. We submitted a grant proposal to the Russian Science Foundation to study evolution and adaptation of the Maculipennis mosquitoes. The total requested amount for 3 years is $318,420. In addition, we worked on revision of our joined manuscript titled: “A standard photomap of ovarian nurse cell chromosomes and inversion polymorphism in Anopheles beklemishevi.” This manuscript describes new genetic tools for the malaria mosquito species that is adapted to the most northern territories of Eurasia and is a close relative of North American mosquitoes. The manuscript is now in press in Parasites and Vectors.

During my visit to Moscow State Regional University, Dr. Gordeev and I collaborated on a project to understand the impact of climate chance on mosquito distribution. I presented a lecture to the faculty and students. We submitted a grant proposal to the Russian Foundation for Basic Research titled “Genetic variability in populations of sibling species of malaria mosquitoes Anopheles daciae and An. messeae in various climatic zones of Russia.” I recently learned that the proposal has been funded in the amount of $15,000. In addition, we plan a submission of a grant proposal to NIH to develop new genomic tools for North American mosquitoes.  

These two partnerships fulfill one of the land-grant missions of Virginia Tech: “Healthy People, Animals, and Planet.” As a result of this research we will gain a better understanding of the global dynamics of disease vectors. This knowledge will help us to better predict, prevent and control vector-borne infectious diseases. Potential benefits for CALS faculty and students include seminars of invited international scientists and inclusion of new material into my graduate course “Genomics of Disease Vectors.”