# Pickpocket315 affects male mating behavior in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti

## TL;DR

This study shows that the pickpocket315 gene in yellow fever mosquitoes affects male mating behavior, especially in detecting female cues and initiating mating.

## Contribution

The study identifies a novel role for the ppk315 gene in male mosquito mating behavior through RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 experiments.

## Key findings

- RNAi-treated males showed fewer mating attempts and reduced response to female acoustic cues.
- CRISPR/Cas9-induced ppk315 mutants had impaired insemination success but normal copulation attempts.
- Males with ppk315 disruption had normal mating success in competitive swarms, suggesting social facilitation.

## Abstract

The molecular basis of mating behavior in the important disease vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti, remains poorly characterized. We investigated the functional role of a pickpocket gene, ppk315, in male mating behavior using both RNAi-mediated knockdown and CRISPR/Cas9 approaches. Behavioral assays revealed that RNAi-treated males (dsPPK315) made fewer mating attempts, were less responsive to female acoustic cues, and were less likely to achieve copulation, though their latency to initiate contact when attempts were made was comparable to controls. Males with a CRISPR/Cas9-induced disruption to ppk315 exhibited reduced success in inseminating multiple females, consistent with previous reports from RNAi knockdown males, ruling out off-target effects as the source of behavioral changes. In contrast to the results of behavioral assays with RNAi, ppk315 mutant males (ppk315−/−) attempted copulation as frequently as wild-type males (ppk315+/+) but were slower to contact females. Despite these impairments in one-on-one interactions, both dsPPK315 and ppk315−/− males displayed normal mating success under competitive swarm-like conditions, potentially due to the socially facilitated activation of mating behavior. Collectively, our findings support a role for ppk315 in the initiation of mating behaviors via sensory detection, with context-dependent consequences for reproductive success.