The effect of the microbiota on male Aedes aegypti life history traits

项目总结： 蚊子在世界范围内传播多种疾病，导致数百万疾病病例和 每年有数十万人死亡。美国也不能幸免于 蚊媒疾病，因为美国的蚊子可以将登革热和寨卡病毒传播为 以及西尼罗河和拉克罗斯脑炎病毒。蚊子也是一个很大的麻烦。 这会降低生活质量和户外活动的乐趣。控制蚊子数量的方法是 我们预防疾病传播和滋扰问题的主要方式。许多新的方法 减少蚊子数量涉及一种名为不育昆虫的方法的改进版本 一种技术(SIT)，在实验室中使雄性生殖不育并释放给 与野生雌性交配。这导致了零后代，并减少了它的数量 目标蚊子种类。SIT要求大规模饲养雄性蚊子 这些雄性必须是健康的，能够与野生雄性竞争配偶。这里, 我们建议调查蚊子细菌微生物群(即细菌在 蚊体)可能具有与SITE相关的雄性埃及伊蚊的特征 包括寿命、体型和争夺配偶的能力。我们还将调查 微生物区系影响雄性的转录组。这项工作将是第一次深入 调查微生物区系在雄性蚊子适合性特征中的作用并将提供关键 洞察如何利用微生物群来改善SIT以控制蚊子。

Project Summary: Mosquitoes transmit multiple diseases worldwide accounting for millions of disease cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. The United States is not immune to the scourge of mosquito-borne disease, as mosquitoes in the USA can transmit dengue and Zika viruses as well as West Nile and La Crosse encephalitis virus. Mosquitoes are also a substantial nuisance that reduce quality of life and enjoyment of outdoor activity. Control of mosquito populations is the primary way we prevent disease transmission and nuisance issues. Many new methods of mosquito population reduction involve a modified version of a method called sterile insect technique (SIT) in which males are made reproductively sterile in a laboratory and released to mate with wild females. This results in zero offspring and a reduction in the population of that targeted mosquito species. SIT requires mass rearing of male mosquitoes in large rearing facilities and these males must be healthy and able to compete with wild males for mates. Here, we propose to investigate the potential impact the mosquito bacterial microbiota (i.e. bacteria in the mosquito body) may have on male Aedes aegypti mosquito traits that are relevant for SIT including longevity, body size, and ability to compete for mates. We will also investigate the way the microbiota affects the transcriptome of males. This work will be the first in-depth investigation into the role of the microbiota in male mosquito fitness traits and will provide key insight into ways the microbiota might be leveraged to improve SIT for mosquito control.