Larval Mosquito Feeding and Microbial Interactions

这项研究的指导原则是，从容器栖息地的成年蚊子的生产是密切相关的微生物转化的有机物和微生物生物量的生产。这些关系施加基本的限制，并促进，蚊子幼虫生长的微生物群落在各种幼虫栖息地。有机物的转化率被假定为调制的质量基板和微生物和幼虫生长的刺激所支配。我们的长期目标是描绘蚊子生产的限制，以确定资源的利用效率，并制定一个现实的幼虫生长模型。虽然我们已经专注于蚊子Aedes triseriatus和入侵物种伊蚊进入充满水的树洞作为研究的模型生态系统，我们现在已经定位我们的研究，以探索与登革热病毒载体埃及伊蚊的类似关系。几个具体目标提供了研究框架。我们将用我们的黄杆菌木聚糖酶基因构建体刺激聚合物酶降解，并测量蚊子生长速率的差异，并将一般采用宏基因组学用于营养物模拟/微生物群落功能关系，然后使用特异性引物利用高通量测序和qPCR方法。氮被认为是促进入侵蚊子物种竞争优势的关键限制性营养素。我们将提供不同形式的氮，并使用同位素标记的化合物来测量相对同化效率。氮在Ae幼虫的饲料中是变化的。埃及伊蚊，以确定低氮对登革病毒载体能力的影响。将评价强烈表达芽孢杆菌属来源的杀幼虫毒素的黄杆菌属构建体在天然树洞的实验室模型中的稳定整合和持久性，用qPCR和荧光报告基因进行跟踪，并定量幼虫的死亡率。将对蚊子致病性Phytopythium菌株的持久性进行类似研究。最后，我们将分析稳定同位素富集签名出现的蚊子源跟踪埃及伊蚊不同的幼虫栖息地，并量化幼虫资源利用。

The guiding principle of this research is that adult mosquito production from container habitats is intimately linked to microbial transformations of organic matter and the production of microbial biomass. These relationships impose fundamental constraints on, and facilitate, larval mosquito growth by microbial communities in a variety of larval habitats. Rates of conversion of organic matter are postulated to be modulated by quality of substrates and governed by stimulation of microbial and larval growth. Our long-term goals are to delineate the constraints on mosquito production, to identify the efficiency of utilization of resources, and to elaborate a realistic model of larval growth. Although we have focused on the mosquito Aedes triseriatus and the invasive species Aedes japonicus into water-filled tree holes as a model ecosystem for study, we have now positioned our research to explore analogous relationships with the dengue virus vector Aedes aegypti. Several specific aims provide the research framework. We will stimulate polymer enzyme degradation with our Flavobacterium xylanase genetic constructs and measure differences in mosquito growth rates, and will employ metagenomics for nutrient-simulation/microbial community function relationships generally, and then use specific primers to utilize high throughput sequencing and qPCR methods. Nitrogen is identified as a key limiting nutrient promoting competitive advantage of invasive mosquito species. We will provision nitrogen in different forms and use isotope-labeled compounds to measure relative assimilation efficiency. Nitrogen will be varied in diets of larval Ae. aegypti to determine the influence of low nitrogen on dengue virus vector competence. A Flavobacterium construct strongly expressing larvicidal toxins of Bacillus origin will be evaluated for its stable integration and persistence into laboratory models of natural tree holes, tracked with qPCR and fluorescent reporters, and mortality rates of larvae quantified. Persistence of mosquito-pathogenic Phytopythium strains will similarly be studied. Lastly, we will analyze stable isotope enrichment signatures of emerged mosquitoes to source-track Aedes aegypti to diverse larval habitats and quantify larval resource utilization.