A systems biology approach to infectious disease transmission: linking individuals populations and ecosystems

传染病传播的系统生物学方法：将个体群体和生态系统联系起来

• 批准号: BB/D020042/1
• 负责人: Heather Ferguson
• 金额: $ 80.19万
• 依托单位: University of Glasgow
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2006 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FD020042%2F1
• 关键词: systems; biology; approach; infectious; disease

Did you ever wonder (and wish) that mosquitoes would bite your dog instead of you? Ecological theory tells us that animals should evolve to specialize on diets that most increase their survival and reproduction. In the case of blood-feeding insects, this evolution may explain why some species bite only humans, whereas others prefer domesticated or wild animals. Evidence shows that the survival and reproduction of most blood-feeding insects, including mosquitoes, bed bugs, fleas, and biting flies, depends on the species of vertebrate that they bite. The survival of parasites within these insects, many of whom cause severe disease in humans and animals, is also influenced by vertebrate species choice; with the blood of some animals enhancing parasite growth, and others blocking it. Given this is the case, what would happen if the range of animal hosts available to blood-feeding insects was suddenly changed on a landscape scale, and how would this change impact the spread of human and animal disease? This experiment is occurring in nature, where the variety of animal species available to blood-feeding insects is rapidly changing as human populations expand; reducing the availability of other vertebrates in favour of themselves and their livestock. The downstream impacts of this narrowing of vertebrate species choice are not yet known; particularly with respect to how it will impact the biodiversity and abundance of biting insects, and the spread of the diseases they carry. Understanding how these changes in vertebrate host species composition influence the survival, population growth and parasite transmission potential of biting insects is the central aim of this project. Using this information to formulate and test mathematical models that predict how insect abundance and disease risk will change in response to specific human-induced land-use changes is my ultimate goal. In Africa, a continent inflicted by the world's deadliest insect-borne diseases; changes in land-use practices are starting to take place. Large-scale urbanization and intensive agricultural development are not yet common, but will become increasingly so within the next decade. Thus here more than anywhere, study of the impact of vertebrate species diversity on blood-feeding insects has the potential to provide pre-emptive solutions to detrimental ecological and epidemiological consequences associated with changes in land use. I will conduct a series of novel laboratory analyses, biologically realistic behavioural assays, and intensive field collections in order to test whether the survival and reproduction of the common African mosquitoes Anopheles gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis is influenced by the availability of host species that they prefer (humans and cows) relative to those that are secondary (goats, chickens and dogs). I will test whether the ability of these two mosquito species to compete with one another is determined by the relative abundance of their preferred host species (humans for An. gambiae, and cows for An. arabiensis). Finally I will investigate whether the development of malaria parasites within these mosquitoes is influenced by the type of blood (human, cow, goat, chicken or dog) that they consume when they are infected. Information gathered in the experiments will be used to formulate a mathematical model of mosquito and parasite population growth as a function of host species composition. I will use this model to examine how skewing the composition of vertebrate hosts towards humans (as expected under urbanization), or to a mixture of livestock and humans (as expected under agricultural expansion) will influence mosquito abundance, biodiversity, and malaria transmission intensity. Finally, these models will be fit to actual landscapes within a malaria-endemic region of east Africa to predict how current and forecasted changes in land-use activities could impact Anopheline population dynamics and human health.

你有没有想过(并希望)蚊子会咬你的狗而不是你？生态学理论告诉我们，动物应该进化成专注于最能增加它们生存和繁殖的饮食。在食血昆虫的例子中，这种进化可能解释了为什么一些物种只咬人，而另一些物种更喜欢家养或野生动物。有证据表明，大多数食血昆虫，包括蚊子、臭虫、跳蚤和叮咬苍蝇，其生存和繁殖取决于它们咬的脊椎动物的种类。这些昆虫体内的寄生虫的生存也受到脊椎动物物种选择的影响；一些动物的血液促进了寄生虫的生长，而另一些动物则阻止了寄生虫的生长。在这种情况下，如果食血昆虫可利用的动物宿主范围突然在景观范围内发生变化，以及这种变化将如何影响人类和动物疾病的传播，会发生什么？这项实验发生在自然界，随着人类种群的扩大，供供血昆虫使用的动物物种的种类正在迅速变化，从而减少了其他脊椎动物的可获得性，有利于它们自己和它们的牲畜。脊椎动物物种选择的缩小对下游的影响尚不清楚；特别是关于它将如何影响叮咬昆虫的生物多样性和丰度，以及它们携带的疾病的传播。了解脊椎动物寄主物种组成的这些变化如何影响叮咬昆虫的生存、种群增长和寄生虫传播潜力是该项目的中心目标。使用这些信息来制定和测试数学模型，预测昆虫丰度和疾病风险将如何变化，以应对特定的人类诱导的土地利用变化，这是我的最终目标。在世界上最致命的虫媒疾病肆虐的非洲大陆，土地利用方式开始发生变化。大规模城镇化和集约农业发展还不常见，但在未来十年内将变得越来越普遍。因此，在这里，研究脊椎动物物种多样性对食血昆虫的影响，有可能为土地利用变化带来的有害生态和流行病学后果提供先发制人的解决方案。我将进行一系列新颖的实验室分析、生物现实行为分析和密集的野外采集，以测试非洲常见蚊子冈比亚按蚊的生存和繁殖能力。还有一个。阿拉伯血吸虫受其偏好的宿主物种(人和牛)相对于次要宿主物种(山羊、鸡和狗)的可用性的影响。我将测试这两种蚊子相互竞争的能力是否取决于它们喜欢的宿主物种(人类)的相对丰度。冈比亚，和牛为一个。阿拉伯)。最后，我将调查疟疾寄生虫在这些蚊子体内的发展是否受到它们感染时摄入的血液类型(人、牛、山羊、鸡或狗)的影响。实验中收集的信息将被用来建立蚊子和寄生虫种群增长的数学模型，作为宿主物种组成的函数。我将使用这个模型来研究脊椎动物宿主的组成向人类倾斜(正如城市化下的预期)，或者向牲畜和人类的混合倾斜(如农业扩张时的预期)，将如何影响蚊子的数量、生物多样性和疟疾传播强度。最后，这些模型将适用于东非疟疾流行地区的实际情况，以预测当前和预测的土地利用活动变化将如何影响按蚊种群动态和人类健康。

项目成果

Establishment of a large semi-field system for experimental study of African malaria vector ecology and control in Tanzania.

在坦桑尼亚建立一个大型半田系统，用于非洲疟疾媒介生态学和控制的实验研究。

• DOI: 10.1186/1475-2875-7-158
• 发表时间: 2008-08-20
• 期刊: MALARIA JOURNAL
• 影响因子: 3
• 作者: Ferguson, Heather M.;Ng'habi, Kija R.;Walder, Thomas;Kadungula, Demetrius;Moore, Sarah J.;Lyimo, Issa;Russell, Tanya L.;Urassa, Honorathy;Mshinda, Hassan;Killeen, Gerry F.;Knols, Bart G. J.
• 通讯作者: Knols, Bart G. J.

The impact of low erythrocyte density in human blood on the fitness and energetic reserves of the African malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

• DOI: 10.1186/1475-2875-12-45
• 发表时间: 2013-02-01
• 期刊: Malaria journal
• 影响因子: 3
• 作者: Emami SN;Ranford-Cartwright LC;Ferguson HM
• 通讯作者: Ferguson HM

The impact of host species and vector control measures on the fitness of African malaria vectors.

宿主物种和病媒控制措施对非洲疟疾病媒适应性的影响。

• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2823
• 发表时间: 2013
• 期刊: Proceedings. Biological sciences
• 作者: Lyimo IN

Selection of mosquito life-histories: a hidden weapon against malaria?

• DOI: 10.1186/1475-2875-11-106
• 发表时间: 2012-04-03
• 期刊: Malaria journal
• 影响因子: 3
• 作者: Ferguson HM;Maire N;Takken W;Lyimo IN;Briët O;Lindsay SW;Smith TA
• 通讯作者: Smith TA

The transmission potential of malaria-infected mosquitoes (An.gambiae-Keele, An.arabiensis-Ifakara) is altered by the vertebrate blood type they consume during parasite development.

• DOI: 10.1038/srep40520
• 发表时间: 2017-01-17
• 期刊: Scientific reports
• 影响因子: 4.6
• 作者: Emami SN;Ranford-Cartwright LC;Ferguson HM
• 通讯作者: Ferguson HM