Michelle Riehle, PhD

Assistant Professor

Locations

Microbiology & Immunology
BSB B2920

Contact Information

Education

PhD, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 2003

Learn more about the Riehle Lab

Research Experience

Anopheles
Evolution, Molecular
Genetic Variation
Host-Parasite Interactions
Immunity, Innate
Insect Vectors
Malaria, Falciparum

Educational Expertise

Evolution, Molecular
Genetics
Microbiology

Research Interests

Our main areas of scientific investigation revolve around understanding differential susceptibility to infection with malaria parasites in the mosquito vector population.

We are taking an approach grounded in genetics to understand how natural variation affects a mosquito’s ability to be infected with Plasmodium parasites. Our current focus is on querying the non-coding genome; specifically enhancers, small RNAs and long non-coding RNAs. We complement our genetics approaches with functional investigations employing microbiological, biochemical, cell biological and molecular biology approaches.

We are also interested in how the prokaryotic and micro eukaryotic members of the mosquito microbiome influence to the mosquito immune response and how specific bacterial or microeukaryotic taxa affect mosquito gene expression and the innate immune response to infection with Plasmodium falciparum.

All of our work leverages approaches across many scientific disciplines including genetics, molecular biology, microbiology, cell biology, and computational biology to address important outstanding questions in malaria transmission and human health.

Genome variation and population structure among 1142 mosquitoes of the African malaria vector species Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii.

(Anopheles gambiae 1000 Genomes Consortium.) Genome Res. 2020 Oct;30(10):1533-1546 PMID: 32989001 PMCID: PMC7605271 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85092682445 09/30/2020
Exposure of Anopheles mosquitoes to trypanosomes reduces reproductive fitness and enhances susceptibility to Plasmodium.

(Dieme C, Zmarlak NM, Brito-Fravallo E, Travaillé C, Pain A, Cherrier F, Genève C, Calvo-Alvarez E, Riehle MM, Vernick KD, Rotureau B, Mitri C.) PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 02;14(2):e0008059 PMID: 32032359 PMCID: PMC7032731 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85081144453 02/08/2020
Gene copy number and function of the APL1 immune factor changed during Anopheles evolution.

(Mitri C, Bischoff E, Eiglmeier K, Holm I, Dieme C, Brito-Fravallo E, Raz A, Zakeri S, Nejad MIK, Djadid ND, Vernick KD, Riehle MM.) Parasit Vectors. 2020 Jan 13;13(1):18 PMID: 31931885 PMCID: PMC6958605 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85077786231 01/15/2020
Leucine-Rich Immune Factor APL1 Is Associated With Specific Modulation of Enteric Microbiome Taxa in the Asian Malaria Mosquito Anopheles stephensi.

(Mitri C, Bischoff E, Belda Cuesta E, Volant S, Ghozlane A, Eiglmeier K, Holm I, Dieme C, Brito-Fravallo E, Guelbeogo WM, Sagnon N, Riehle MM, Vernick KD.) Front Microbiol. 2020;11:306 PMID: 32174902 PMCID: PMC7054466 03/17/2020
Influence of genetic polymorphism on transcriptional enhancer activity in the malaria vector Anopheles coluzzii.

(Nardini L, Holm I, Pain A, Bischoff E, Gohl DM, Zongo S, Guelbeogo WM, Sagnon N, Vernick KD, Riehle MM.) Sci Rep. 2019 10 24;9(1):15275 PMID: 31649293 PMCID: PMC6813320 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85074074218 10/28/2019
Genetic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

(Anopheles gambiae 1000 Genomes Consortium, Data analysis group, Partner working group, Sample collections—Angola:, Burkina Faso:, Cameroon:, Gabon:, Guinea:, Guinea-Bissau:, Kenya:, Uganda:, Crosses:, Sequencing and data production, Web application development, Project coordination.) Nature. 2017 12 07;552(7683):96-100 PMID: 29186111 PMCID: PMC6026373 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85038811995 12/01/2017
The Anopheles gambiae 2La chromosome inversion is associated with susceptibility to Plasmodium falciparum in Africa.

(Riehle MM, Bukhari T, Gneme A, Guelbeogo WM, Coulibaly B, Fofana A, Pain A, Bischoff E, Renaud F, Beavogui AH, Traore SF, Sagnon N, Vernick KD.) Elife. 2017 06 23;6 PMID: 28643631 PMCID: PMC5482571 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85021397890 06/24/2017
Preferential suppression of Anopheles gambiae host sequences allows detection of the mosquito eukaryotic microbiome.

(Belda E, Coulibaly B, Fofana A, Beavogui AH, Traore SF, Gohl DM, Vernick KD, Riehle MM.) Sci Rep. 2017 06 12;7(1):3241 PMID: 28607435 PMCID: PMC5468309 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85020718351 06/14/2017
Correction: An Evolution-Based Screen for Genetic Differentiation between Anopheles Sister Taxa Enriches for Detection of Functional Immune Factors.

(Mitri C, Bischoff E, Takashima E, Williams M, Eiglmeier K, Pain A, Guelbeogo WM, Gneme A, Brito-Fravallo E, Holm I, Lavazec C, Sagnon N, Baxter RH, Riehle MM, Vernick KD.) PLoS Pathog. 2016 Aug;12(8):e1005836 PMID: 27518517 PMCID: PMC4982601 08/16/2016
Malaria vector populations across ecological zones in Guinea Conakry and Mali, West Africa.

(Coulibaly B, Kone R, Barry MS, Emerson B, Coulibaly MB, Niare O, Beavogui AH, Traore SF, Vernick KD, Riehle MM.) Malar J. 2016 Apr 08;15:191 PMID: 27059057 PMCID: PMC4826509 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-84966415575 04/10/2016
Evolution of GOUNDRY, a cryptic subgroup of Anopheles gambiae s.l., and its impact on susceptibility to Plasmodium infection.

(Crawford JE, Riehle MM, Markianos K, Bischoff E, Guelbeogo WM, Gneme A, Sagnon N, Vernick KD, Nielsen R, Lazzaro BP.) Mol Ecol. 2016 Apr;25(7):1494-510 PMID: 26846876 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-84960921872 02/06/2016
Genetic Structure of a Local Population of the Anopheles gambiae Complex in Burkina Faso.

(Markianos K, Bischoff E, Mitri C, Guelbeogo WM, Gneme A, Eiglmeier K, Holm I, Sagnon N, Vernick KD, Riehle MM.) PLoS One. 2016;11(1):e0145308 PMID: 26731649 PMCID: PMC4701492 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-84953889084 01/06/2016

Michelle Riehle, PhD