Fig. 1

Anopheles stephensi salivary gland organization is elaborate and sexually dimorphic. Morphological overview of Anopheles stephensi adult SGs. Low magnification Normarski images of female (a) and male (b) SGs. The female gland comprises two lateral lobes, containing proximal lateral (PL), transition zone, and distal lateral (DL) regions, and a single medial lobe (M). Two glands are present in each mosquito, connected by a common duct. The male gland occurs as either a tube with several branches (more frequent, shown), or an unbranched linear tube (very rare morphology). Note that female duct termini are open, whereas male duct termini are fused (black arrows). c-f Confocal images of SGs stained with Nile red (membranes) and DAPI (nuclei). c-d Confocal maximum intensity projection (MIP) of female (c, all lobes/regions of two connected glands are labeled) or male (d) SGs. e-f Confocal slice images detailing the female SG lobes (e) and male gland (f) accompanied by higher magnification zoom images. Nile red staining highlights the cup-shaped cell structure surrounding a secretory cavity and cellular arrangement within each lobe. Narrow cell body domains, lateral to the secretory cavity, of two adjacent cells abut most of the time. Male SG ducts often terminate well before the distal-most regions (Fii). This correlates with distal region cellular disorganization, including the lack of a clear lumen (Fv-vi). More proximal regions are more often clearly arranged (similar to female lobes), but with smaller secretory cavities and less basally compressed cell bodies (Fiii). Numerous duct bifurcations are common in males (Fiii). The duct (Eii, Evi, Fiii, Fiv; white arrows) is weakly marked by Nile Red. Narrow solid white lines in low magnification fluorescent images indicate the limits of the gland/lobe based on DIC [not shown after (a)] or low level Nile Red staining. Thicker dotted lines indicate regions magnified in additional panels to the right. A single cell in each female lobe and in the male SG is outlined by a dashed box (1E-F). Scale bar lengths are: 50 microns—Ai, Bi, C, D, Ei, Eiv, Evii, Fi; 20 microns—Aii, Aiii, Bii, Eiii, Evi, Eix, Fiii. DL—distal lateral lobe; PL-proximal lateral lobe; M-medial lobe; TZ-lateral lobe transition zone