Dr Linta Grigoraki

Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow

I received a Diploma in Biology (2011) and a MSc in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine (2013) from the University of Crete. I did my PhD (2013-2017) in the field of Molecular entomology at the University of Crete and the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (FORTH-IMBB, Heraklion).
My PhD thesis focused on the molecular characterisation of organophosphate resistance in the tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus.

In October 2017, I joined the group of Hilary Ranson at LSTM, as a Post Doctoral Research Associate.  In 2019, I received a Sir Henry Wellcome Trust fellowship to study the role of the cuticle in An. gambiae insecticide resistance and physiology. 

Research

The cuticle plays an important role in the physiology of mosquitoes and their response to insecticides. By being the outermost part of the body, the cuticle is the first barrier to the penetration of insecticides, while it also protects from water loss and influences chemical communication. Despite its importance in controlling key traits in mosquitoes little is known about its formation. My research focuses on identifying genes in the major malaria vector An. gambiae involved in the synthesis of cuticular hydrocarbons that cover the cuticle. I am also interested in how variations in the cuticular hydrocarbon composition are generated and how these might affect traits, like insecticide resistance and desiccation tolerance, that determine the fitness and vectorial capacity of Anopheles mosquitoes.

Research funding

This research is funded by a Sir Henry Wellcome postdoctoral fellowship

'Formation of the outer surface of the mosquito cuticle and its role in determining the fitness of African malaria vectors' 2019-2023

Awards

Si Henry Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship

Director's Catalyst Fund, LSTM (Pump priming award for the project: 'Delineating the cuticular hydrocarbon biosynthesis pathway in the malaria vector An. gambiae.'

Scholarship form the Greek entomological society for research in the areas of entomology, acarology and nematology.

Scholarship from the University of Crete (Michail Maria Mannasaki foundation) for work of oustanding merit during the PhD thesis

Scholarship from the Greek State Scholarship Foundation (IKY) for MSc studies

Scholarship from the Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH-IMB, Heraklion, Crete) for MSc studies.

 

Selected publications

  • Selected Publications

    Grigoraki L, Grau-Bove X, Carrington Yates H, Lycett GJ, Ranson H. Isolation and transcriptomatic anlysis of Anopheles gambiae oenocytes enables the delineation of hydrocarbon biosynthesis. Elife. 2020;9.

    Vontas J, Grigoraki L, Morgan J, Tsakireli D, Fuseini G, Segura L, et al. Rapid selection of a pyrethroid metabolic enzyme CYP9K1 by operational malaria control activities. P Natl Acad Sci USA. 2018;115(18):4619-24.

    Balabanidou V, Grigoraki L and Vontas J. (2018) Insect cuticle: a critical determinant of insecticide resistance. Current Opinion in Insect science (27) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2018.03.001

    Grigoraki L, Puggioli A, Mavridis K, Douris V, Monatanary M, Bellini R and Vontas J. (2017) Striking diflubenzuron resistance in Culex pipiens, the prime vector of West Nile Virus. Scientific Reports 15;7(1):11699. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-12103-1.

    Grigoraki L, Pipini D, Labbé P, Chaskopoulou A, Weill M, and Vontas J. (2017). Carboxylesterase gene amplifications associated with insecticide resistance in Aedes albopictus: Geographical distribution and evolutionary origin. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 11(4), e0005533. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005533

    Grigoraki L, Balabanidou V, Meristoudis C, Myridakis A, Ranson H, Swevers L, et al. Functional and immunohistochemical characterization of CCEae3a, a carboxylesterase associated with temephos resistance in the major arbovirus vectos Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus. Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2016; 74:61-7.

    Grigoraki L, Lagnel J, Kioulos I, Kampouraki A, Morou E, Labbe P, et al. Transcriptome Profiling and Genetic Study Reveal Amplified Carboxylesterase Genes Implicated in Temephos Resistance, in the Asian Tiger Mosquito Aedes albopictus. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015;9(5):e0003771.