DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Larval stress and immunity of adult mosquitoes

致病细菌、病毒、真菌和寄生蠕虫通常通过媒介传播，通常是叮咬昆虫，如蚊子。作用于蚊子幼虫的环境压力，包括高密度、食物短缺和极端温度，可能对成虫生物学产生终身影响;常见的表现是存活率、寿命和身体状况下降。应激源也可能增强成年蚊子隐藏和传播病原体的生理能力。这个博士论文改进项目追求的是令人惊讶的结果背后的机制，即黄热病蚊子幼虫阶段的压力实际上增强了一般免疫力的某些方面，并产生了由于感染强度较低和身体状况受损而传播病原体的可能性较低的成年人。研究人员将启动操纵幼虫密度的实验室实验，以量化成虫的免疫功能，如红细胞丰度和分化，寄生虫感染的载体易感性和病原体成功。研究结果将阐明应激改变昆虫免疫系统和改变昆虫与寄生虫之间相互作用的一般机制。 蚊子传播的疾病包括世界上一些最重要的人类健康威胁。了解环境压力对幼虫的影响可能具有实际意义，因为本研究中的容器蚊子是人类疾病的载体，广泛分布在与人类接触概率较高的城市环境中。该项目将有助于正在进行的论文工作，在很大程度上依赖于本科生和研究生水平的研究援助;本科生将获得宝贵的经验，并可能有助于发表的研究。此外，在职高中数学和科学教师从专业硕士课程在环境科学教育在布拉德利大学（皮奥里亚，IL）参加这项工作的机构作为他们的学位课程的夏季研究沉浸组件。

Pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasitic worms are often transmitted by vectors, commonly biting insects such as mosquitoes. Environmental stressors acting on mosquito larvae, including high density, food shortage, and extreme temperatures, can have lifelong impacts on adult biology; common manifestations are reduced survival, longevity, and body condition. Stressors may also enhance the physiological ability of adult mosquitoes to harbor and spread pathogens. This Doctoral Dissertation Improvement project pursues the mechanisms underlying the surprising result that stress during the larval stages of yellow fever mosquitoes actually enhances some aspects of general immunity, and produces adults with lower probability of spreading pathogens due to lower infection intensity and impaired body condition. The researchers will initiate laboratory experiments that manipulate larval density in order to quantify adult immune function, as red blood cell abundance and differentiation, vector susceptibility to parasite infection, and pathogen success. Results will elucidate general mechanisms by which stress alters insect immune systems and modifies interactions between insects and parasites. Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes include some of the most important human health threats in the world. Understanding the effects of environmental stress on larvae may be of practical importance, as the container mosquitoes in this study are vectors of human disease and are widely distributed in urban environments where the probability of contact with humans is high. This project will contribute to ongoing dissertation work that relies heavily on both undergraduate and graduate-level research assistance; undergraduates will gain valuable experience and may contribute to published research. Further, in-service high school math and science teachers from the Professional MA program in Environmental Science Education at Bradley University (Peoria, IL) participate in this body of work as a summer research immersion component of their degree program.