Megan Meuti (Nicol)

Research Focus

Climate change upping the ante in fight against disease-carrying mosquitoes
WOSU 89.7 NPR News | By Matthew Rand | Published July 25, 2022

Many of us intuitively recognize that our mosquito problems are seasonal; there are times of the year when mosquitoes are abundant and we cannot go outside without getting bitten (e.g. late spring and summer), while there are other times when we enjoy a reprieve from mosquito bites (e.g. late fall and winter). I am interested in how precisely mosquitoes are able to tell what time of year it is and appropriately respond to their environment. Members of my lab group study how circadian clock genes might allow mosquitoes to measure day length to determine the time of year; how male mosquitoes change their accessory gland proteins to influence female behavior and physiology; and whether mosquitoes in urban environments are active for longer periods during the year and/or bite humans more frequently. We use a variety of molecular, genetic and physiological techniques to investigate these questions. Our ultimate goal is to uncover specific ways to manipulate seasonal responses in insects so that we can more effectively control them.

I graduated from The Ohio State University in 2004 with dual Bachelor's of Science Degrees in Entomology and Microbiology. I then continued my graduate work at OSU, where I worked in Dr. David Denlinger's Insect Molecuar Physiology Lab, earning my PhD in December of 2014. I taught general biology as well as courses on insect biology for science and non-science majors at Kenyon College for one year before returning to OSU as an Assistant Professor of Entomology in 2016.

Graduate Student Mentorship, Major Adviser

• 2020 – present, Matthew Wolkoff. “Determining the role of the circadian clock and genetic variation on the diapause response in the Northern house mosquito.” Matt joined my lab as a PhD student in August 2020.
• 2019 – present, Alden Siperstein. “Characterizing seasonal changes in mosquito abundance and uncovering the genetic regulation of biting in Culex mosquitoes.” Alden joined my lab in August 2019 as a Master’s Student.
• 2018 – present,  Lydia Fyie.  "The impacts of urbanization on mosquito overwintering responses". Lydia joined my lab as a master’s student and is co-advised by Dr. Mary Gardiner, and officially transitioned a PhD in November, 2020.
• 2018 – 2021, Caitlin Peffers. "Characterizing the photoperiodic response and circadian clock in the Northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens." Caitlin joined my lab as a Master’s student in the fall of 2018, and graduated with her MS in May 2021.
• 2017-2018 (transferred) Robin Bautista-Jimenez. "Males matter: determining the role of male mosquitoes on seasonal differences in female reproductive physiology."

Recent Scientific Publications (*indicates an undergraduate author; ⁺ indicates a graduate author)

1. Fyie, L.R.⁺, Gardiner, M.M. and Meuti, M.E. 2021. Artificial light at night alters the seasonal responses of biting mosquitoes. Journal of Insect Physiology, p.104194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2021.104194

2. Huck, D.T.*, Klein, M.S., and Meuti, M.E. 2021. “Determining the effects of nutrition on the reproductive physiology of male mosquitoes.” Journal of Insect Physiology. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022191021000019

3. Meuti, M.E., and Harrell, R. 2020. Preparing and injecting embryos of Culex mosquitoes to generate null mutations using CRISPR/Cas9. Journal of Visualized Experiments. Journal of Visualized Experiments: Jove, (163).

4. Chang, V.* and Meuti, M.E. 2020. Circadian transcription factors differentially regulate features of the adult overwintering diapause in the Northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 121: 103365.

5. Ragland, G.J., Armbruster, P.A. and Meuti, M.E., 2019. Evolutionary and functional genetics of insect diapause: a call for greater integration. Current opinion in insect science, 36, pp.74-81.

6. Meuti, M.E. and Short, S.M. 2019. Physiological and environmental factors affecting the composition of the ejaculate in mosquitoes and other insects. Insects. 10:74.

7. Meuti, M.E., Bautista-Jimenez, R*. and Reynolds, J.A. 2018. Evidence that microRNAs are part of the molecular toolkit regulating adult reproductive diapause in the mosquito, Culex pipiens. PloS one, 13: e0203015.

8. Fisher, S.W and M.E. Meuti. 2018. Contributions of Entomology to Natural Theology in the late 17th to early 19th Centuries. American Entomologist. 4:242-250

9. Short, C.A.*, M. E. Meuti, Q. Zhang and D. L. Denlinger. 2016. "Entrainment of eclosion and preliminary ontogeny of circadian clock gene expression in the flesh fly, Sarcophaga crassipalpis." Journal of Insect Physiology, 93: 28-35.