Limited association between and infections in natural populations of the major malaria mosquito .

Evolutionary applications
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Since the discovery of natural malaria vector populations infected by the endosymbiont bacterium , a renewed interest has arisen for using this bacterium as an alternative for malaria control. Among naturally infected mosquitoes, , a major malaria mosquito in Central Africa, exhibits one of the highest prevalences of infection. To better understand whether this maternally inherited bacterium could be used for malaria control, we investigated influence in populations naturally infected by the malaria parasite . To this end, we collected mosquitoes in a village from Cameroon, Central Africa, where this mosquito is the main malaria vector. We found that the prevalence of bacterium was almost fixed in the studied mosquito population, and was higher than previously recorded. We also quantified in whole mosquitoes and dissected abdomens, confirming that the bacterium is also elsewhere than in the abdomen, but at lower density. Finally, we analyzed the association of presence and density on infection. density was slightly higher in mosquitoes infected with the malaria parasite than in uninfected mosquitoes. However, we observed no correlation between the and densities. In conclusion, our study indicates that naturally occurring infection is not associated to development within mosquitoes.

Year of Publication
2023
Journal
Evolutionary applications
Volume
16
Issue
12
Pages
1999-2006
Date Published
12/2023
ISSN
1752-4571
DOI
10.1111/eva.13619
PubMed ID
38143905
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