Role of the Gut Microbiome in Mosquito Development

描述(申请人提供)：蚊子被公认为是最重要的致病病原体的节肢动物媒介。因此，研究可能干扰蚊子发育或疾病传播的过程具有重要的生物医学意义。这项申请是一项重新提交的申请，以最近的结果为基础，该结果表明埃及伊蚊和其他蚊子物种的肠道微生物群对发育至关重要。人们很早就知道肠道里藏有细菌，但这些微生物在蚊子生物学中扮演的角色在很大程度上还不清楚。在这里，我们报告的初步数据显示，埃及伊蚊消化道内的细菌群落相对简单，但在发育过程中也表现出明显的变化。我们的结果进一步表明，无菌(无菌)埃及伊蚊不能发育，而肠道的再繁殖由几个肠道群落成员和非群落成员大肠埃希菌拯救发展。与其他物种的比较数据得出了类似的结果，这有力地表明了大多数蚊子(如果不是所有蚊子)对其肠道微生物群发育的依赖，这是基本的，但迄今尚未被认识到。最近的研究确定了细菌基因在发育挽救中的作用，以及对细菌如何影响蚊子生理的洞察。为了进一步推进这些结果，我们提出了三个具体目标。1.我们实验室培养的Ae肠道微生物区系的完整特征。埃及伊蚊和其他物种，并在野外采集蚊子进行平行实验。2.进一步鉴定在挽救蚊子发育过程中存在缺陷的大肠杆菌突变体。3.分析细菌对蚊子生理的影响。我们工作的预期结果将加强对蚊子肠道微生物群及其功能的了解。我们的研究将通过提供有关肠道微生物在蚊子发育中扮演的基本未知但关键角色的信息来影响媒介生物学领域。我们的研究还将为控制蚊子发育作为媒介控制策略提供潜在的重要信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Mosquitoes are well recognized as the most important arthropod vectors of disease-causing pathogens. Thus, studies on processes with potential to disrupt mosquito development or disease transmission are of biomedical importance. This application is a resubmission request to build on recent results showing that the gut micro biota of Aedes aegypti and other mosquito species are essential for development. It has long been known that the gut harbors bacteria but the role these microbes play in mosquito biology is largely unclear. Here we report preliminary data showing that the community of bacteria in the digestive tract of the mosquito Aedes aegypti is relatively simple but also exhibits distinct changes during development. Our results further show that bacteria-free (axenic) Aedes aegypti cannot develop, while recolonization of the gut by several gut community members and the non-community member Escherichia coli rescue development. Comparative data with other species yield similar results, which strongly suggests a fundamental, but heretofore unrecognized, dependence by most if not all mosquitoes on their gut microbiome for development. Recent studies identify bacterial genes with roles in developmental rescue as well as insights into how bacteria affect mosquito physiology. To further advance these results, we propose three specific aims. 1. Complete characterization of the gut micro biota in our laboratory cultures of Ae. aegypti and select other species, and conduct parallel experiments in field collected mosquitoes. 2. Further characterize E. coli mutants defective in rescuing mosquito development. 3. Analyze how bacteria affect mosquito physiology. Expected outcomes of our work will enhance understanding of the mosquito gut microbiome and its functions. Our study will impact the field of vector biology by providing information on the largely unknown but critical role gut microbes play in mosquito development. Our study will also provide information of potential importance in manipulating mosquito development as a strategy for vector control.