Journal of Medical Entomology (2011) 48, 76-84

Conor J. McMeniman, Grant L. Hughes and Scott L. O'Neill (2011)
A Wolbachia symbiont in Aedes aegypti disrupts mosquito egg development to a greater extent when mosquitoes feed on nonhuman versus human blood
Journal of Medical Entomology 48 (1), 76-84
Abstract: A vertebrate bloodmeal is required by female mosquitoes of most species to obtain nutrients for egg maturation. The yellowfever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.), feeds predominantly on humans, despite having the capacity to use blood from other hosts for this process. Here, we report that female Ae. aegypti infected with a virulent strain of the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia pipientis (wMelPop) from Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) have a reduced ability to use blood for egg development. Blood feeding by wMelPop-infected females on mouse, guinea pig, or chicken hosts resulted in a near complete abolishment of reproductive output associated with both a decline in the numbers of eggs oviposited as well as the hatching rate of successfully laid eggs. In contrast, the reproductive output of wMelPop-infected females fed human blood was only mildly affected in comparison to individuals fed animal blood sources. Blood-feeding assays over two reproductive cycles definitively illustrated a nutritional interaction between host blood source and egg development in wMelPop-infected Ae. aegypti. Removal of Wolbachia from mosquitoes using antibiotic treatment rescued egg development on all blood sources. Further investigation of this phenotype may provide new insights into the nutritional basis of mosquito anthropophily.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Scott L. O'Neill

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
general biology - morphology - evolution
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aedes aegypti
Wolbachia (genus - entomopathogens)