Guido Petrovich, Ph.D.

Research

In the del Mármol lab, I will dissect the molecular mechanisms by which insects that transmit Chagas disease locate their human hosts. Bloodsucking insects, particularly those that feed at night, use olfactory clues to sniff out their meals. For insects that spread disease, specific odor-detecting olfactory receptors cooperate with specialized chemosensory proteins, called ionotropic receptors, to recognize humans. Although olfactory receptors are well characterized, little is known about what ionotropic receptors look like or how they operate. Using an array of cutting-edge methods in genetic and molecular biology, neurophysiology, and behavioral studies, I will identify the ionotropic receptors that respond to chemicals that are enriched in human aromas and confirm that knocking out these receptors eliminates Chagas-carrying insects’ attraction to human scents. Then, using a cryo-electron microscopy approach pioneered in the del Mármol lab, I will capture the structure of the target receptors as they associate with odor molecules and search for molecules that specifically disrupt this chemical coupling. My work could lead to understanding the insects’ resistance to repellants and develop alternative methods to control or prevent the spread of insect-borne diseases such as Chagas.