Texas A&M Department of Entomology - Faculty - Albert Mulenga

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Albert Mulenga

Title: Assistant Professor of Entomology; Vector Biology & Genomics

Education and Training:

Ph.D. (Veterinary Medicine), 1999, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

Master of Veterinary Science (Veterinary Parasitology) 1993, University of Liverpool of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, England

Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine, 1990, University of Zambia Samora Machel School of Veterinary Medicine, Lusaka, Zambia

Long-term research interests

Throughout the course of human civilization, arthropod vectors and vector-borne diseases have negatively impacted our quest for good health and productivity. Although there are parallel efforts to develop chemotherapy and/or vaccine options against individual vector borne disease agents, killing of arthropod vectors of disease agents has for many generations remained the major option of controlling animal and human vector borne diseases. The lab focuses on deciphering molecular mechanisms underlying regulating the three-way interaction cascade involving arthropod vectors, vector-borne disease pathogen, and the mammalian host. The plan is to use new knowledge acquired from our research program to identify biological weak links in the thee-way interaction cascade that are accessible to manipulation for purposes of developing novel methods of controlling arthropod vectors and the vector-borne pathogens.

Teaching activities

ENTO 423: Upper level Undergraduate Medical Entomology (Fall and Spring semesters from 2012, honors credit available with honors contract)

ENTO 618: Graduate Medical and Veterinary Entomology (offered every two years, next offering Spring 2014)

Undergraduate Research (courses taken by current and/or former students, ENTO 491, ENTO 484, ENTO 485, GENE 491, BIMS 484 and GENE 285

Selected publications in the last five years

Mulenga, A., Erikson, K. 2011. A snapshot of the Ixodes scapularis degradome. Gene. 482(1-2): 78-93

Chalaire, KC., Kim, TK, Garcia-Rodriguez, H., Mulenga, A. 2011. Amblyomma americanum (L) (Acari: Ixodidae) tick salivary gland serine protease inhibitor (serpin) 6 is secreted into tick saliva during tick feeding. J Exp. Biol. 214: 665-73.

Radulovic, Z., Milutinovic, M., Tomanovic, S., Mulenga, A. 2010. Exon variability of gene encoding glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase of Ixodes ricinus ticks. Parasite. 17: 363-368.

Radulovic, Z., Milutinović, M. Mulenga, A. 2010. Detection of Borrelia-specific 16s rRNA sequence in total RNA extracted from Ixodes ricinus ticks. Arq. Bras. Med. Vet. Zootec. 62: 862-867.

Mulenga, A., Khumthong, R. 2010. Disrupting the Amblyomma americanum (L.) CD147 receptor homolog prevents ticks from feeding to repletion and blocks spontaneous detachment of ticks from their host. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 40: 524-532.

Mulenga, A., Khumthong, R. 2010. Silencing of three Amblyomma americanum (L.) insulin-like growth factor binding protein-related proteins prevents ticks from feeding to repletion. J. Exp. Biol. 213: 1153-1161

Mulenga, A., Khumthong, R and Chalaire, KC. 2009. Ixodes scapularis tick serine proteinase inhibitor (serpin) gene family; Annotation and transcriptional analysis. BMC Genomics. 10: 217.

Mulenga, A., Khumthong, R., Chalaire K.C., Strey O, Teel P. 2008. Molecular and biological characterization of the Amblyomma americanum organic anion transporter polypeptide. J. Exp. Biol. 211: 3401-3408.

Mulenga, A., Khumthong, R., TBlandon, M. 2008. Molecular and expression analysis of a family of the Amblyomma americanum tick Lospins. J. Exp. Biol. 210: 3188-3198.

Ceraul SM, Dreher-Lesnick SM, Mulenga, A., Rahman MS, Azad AF. 2008. Functional characterization and novel rickettsiostatic effects of a Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor from the tick Dermacentor variabilis. Infect Immun. 76: 5429 - 5435.

Mulenga, A., Blandon, M., Khumthong, R. 2007. The molecular basis of the Amblyomma americanum tick attachment phase. Exp. Appl. Acarol. 41: 267-287

Sheila M. Dreher-Lesnick, Mulenga, A., Simser, JA. And Abdu.  2006. Differential expression of two novel glutathione S-transferases identified from the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis.. Insect Mol. Biol. 15: 445-453.

Macaluso, KR., Mulenga, A., Simser, JA., Azad, AF. 2006. Characterization of Dermacentor variabilis molecules associated with rickettsial infection. Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 1078: 384- 388

 

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