Mosquito larval immunity and its impact on gut microbiota and malaria competence

描述（由申请人提供）：疟疾媒介能力在很大程度上取决于肠道微环境中蚊子肠道微生物群、疟原虫和宿主免疫之间的生态相互作用。蚊子免疫研究主要集中在成虫身上。幼虫与病原体的相互作用是蚊子免疫系统形成过程中不可忽视的驱动力。然而，对幼虫的免疫结构及其与肠道微生物菌群的相互作用知之甚少。本项目拟利用球形芽孢杆菌（Bacillus sphaericus）研究蚊子幼虫的免疫应答，并利用基于微阵列的全局表达谱技术表征蚊子幼虫的免疫结构。通过高通量细菌16S rDNA标记分析肠道细菌群落，评估幼虫免疫激活对幼虫和成虫肠道微生物群动态的影响。还将评价这些参数对疟疾易感性的影响。该项目将产生数据，以便更好地了解幼虫免疫及其对蚊子肠道生态系统的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Malaria vector competence is largely determined by ecological interactions among mosquito gut microbiota, Plasmodium, and host immunity in the context of gut microenvironment. Mosquito immunity studies have been mainly focusing on the adults. Larva-pathogen interaction is an unignorable driving force in shaping mosquito immune system during the evolution. However, little is known about larva immune structure and its interaction with gut microbial flora. In this project we propose to use larvicidal Bacillus sphaericus to study mosquito larval immune response, and characterize larval immune architecture by using microarray based global expression profiling. The impact of larval immune activation on the dynamics of gut microbiota in both larvae and adults will be assessed by profiling gut bacterial community via high throughput pyrosequencing bacterial 16S rDNA marker. The influence of these parameters on the malaria susceptibility will also be evaluated. The project will generate data towards a better understanding of larval immunity and its impact on mosquito gut ecosystem. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Mosquito larva-bacterium interactions contribute to the evolution of immune system. This proposed project initiates a study on larval immune responses upon exposure to larvicidal bacterium Bacillus sphaericus and its impact on mosquito gut microbiota and malaria susceptibility. This pilot project will generate data towards comprehensive understanding the tripartite ecological interactions among malaria, gut microbiota and host immunity and its impact on vectorial capacity.