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Dynamics of prevalence and diversity of avian malaria infections in wild Culex pipiens mosquitoes: the effects of Wolbachia, filarial nematodes and insecticide resistance.

ABSTRACT: Identifying the parasites transmitted by a particular vector and the factors that render this vector susceptible to the parasite are key steps to understanding disease transmission. Although avian malaria has become a model system for the investigation of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of Plasmodium parasites, little is still known about the field prevalence, diversity and distribution of avian Plasmodium species within the vectors, or about the extrinsic factors affecting Plasmodium population dynamics in the wild.We examined changes in avian malaria prevalence and Plasmodium lineage composition in female Culex pipiens caught throughout one field season in 2006, across four sampling sites in southern France. Using site occupancy models, we correct the naive estimates of Plasmodium prevalence to account for PCR-based imperfect detection. To establish the importance of different factors that may bear on the prevalence and diversity of avian Plasmodium in field mosquitoes, we focus on Wolbachia and filarial parasite co-infections, as well as on the insecticide resistance status of the mosquito.Plasmodium prevalence in Cx. pipiens increased from February (0%) to October (15.8%) and did not vary significantly among the four sampling sites. The application of site occupancy models leads to a 4% increase in this initial (naive) estimate of prevalence. The parasite community was composed of 15 different haemosporidian lineages, 13 of which belonged to the Plasmodium genus, and 2 to the Haemoproteus genus. Neither the presence of different Wolbachia types and of filarial parasites co-infecting the mosquitoes, nor their insecticide resistance status were found to affect the Plasmodium prevalence and diversity.We found that haemosporidian parasites are common and diverse in wild-caught Cx. pipiens mosquitoes in Southern France. The prevalence of the infection in mosquitoes is unaffected by Wolbachia and filarial co-infections as well as the insecticide resistant status of the vector. These factors may thus have a negligible impact on the transmission of avian malaria. In contrast, the steady increase in prevalence from February to October indicates that the dynamics of avian malaria is driven by seasonality and supports that infected birds are the reservoir of a diverse community of lineages in southern France.

SUBMITTER: Zele F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4261254 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND: The control of most vectors of malaria is threatened by the spread of insecticide resistance. One factor that has been hitherto largely overlooked is the potential effects of insecticide resistance on the ability of mosquitoes to transmit malaria: are insecticide-resistant mosquitoes as good vectors of Plasmodium as susceptible ones? The drastic physiological changes that accompany the evolution of insecticide resistance may indeed alter the ability of vectors to transmit diseases, a possibility that, if confirmed, could have major epidemiological consequences. METHODS: Using a novel experimental system consisting of the avian malaria parasite (Plasmodium relictum) and its natural vector (the mosquito Culex pipiens), two of the most common mechanisms of insecticide resistance (esterase overproduction and acetylcholinesterase modification) were investigated for their effect on mosquito infection rate and parasite burden. For this purpose two types of experiments were carried out using (i) insecticide-resistant and susceptible laboratory isogenic lines of Cx. pipiens and (ii) wild Cx. pipiens collected from a population where insecticide resistant and susceptible mosquitoes coexist in sympatry. RESULTS: The isogenic line and wild-caught mosquito experiments were highly consistent in showing no effect of either esterase overproduction or of acetylcholinesterase modification on either the infection rate or on the oocyst burden of mosquitoes. The only determinant of these traits was blood meal size, which was similar across the different insecticide resistant categories in both experiments. CONCLUSIONS: Insecticide resistance was found to have no effect on Plasmodium development within the mosquito. This is the first time this question has been addressed using a natural mosquito-Plasmodium combination, while taking care to standardize the genetic background against which the insecticide resistance genes operate. Infection rate and oocyst burden are but two of the factors that determine the vectorial capacity of mosquitoes. Other key determinants of parasite transmission, such as mosquito longevity and behaviour, or the parasite's incubation time, need to be investigated before concluding on whether insecticide resistance influences the ability of mosquitoes to transmit malaria.

Project description:Mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens complex thrive in temperate and tropical regions worldwide, and serve as efficient vectors of Bancroftian lymphatic filariasis (LF) caused by Wuchereria bancrofti in Asia, Africa, the West Indies, South America, and Micronesia. However, members of this mosquito complex do not act as natural vectors for Brugian LF caused by Brugia malayi, or for the cat parasite B. pahangi, despite their presence in South Asia where these parasites are endemic. Previous work with the Iowa strain of Culex pipiens pipiens demonstrates that it is equally susceptible to W. bancrofti as is the natural Cx. p. pipiens vector in the Nile Delta, however it is refractory to infection with Brugia spp. Here we report that the infectivity barrier for Brugia spp. in Cx. p. pipiens is the mosquito midgut, which inflicts internal and lethal damage to ingested microfilariae. Following per os Brugia exposures, the prevalence of infection is significantly lower in Cx. p. pipiens compared to susceptible mosquito controls, and differs between parasite species with <50% and <5% of Cx. p. pipiens becoming infected with B. pahangi and B. malayi, respectively. When Brugia spp. mf were inoculated intrathoracically to bypass the midgut, larvae developed equally well as in controls, indicating that, beyond the midgut, Cx. p. pipiens is physiologically compatible with Brugia spp. Mf isolated from Cx. p. pipiens midguts exhibited compromised motility, and unlike mf derived from blood or isolated from the midguts of Ae. aegypti, failed to develop when inoculated intrathoracically into susceptible mosquitoes. Together these data strongly support the role of the midgut as the primary infection barrier for Brugia spp. in Cx. p. pipiens. Examination of parasites recovered from the Cx. p. pipiens midgut by vital staining, and those exsheathed with papain, suggest that the damage inflicted by the midgut is subcuticular and disrupts internal tissues. Microscopic studies of these worms reveal compromised motility and sharp bends in the body; and ultrastructurally the presence of many fluid or carbohydrate-filled vacuoles in the hypodermis, body wall, and nuclear column. Incubation of Brugia mf with Cx. p. pipiens midgut extracts produces similar internal damage phenotypes; indicating that the Cx. p. pipiens midgut factor(s) that damage mf in vivo are soluble and stable in physiological buffer, and inflict damage on mf in vitro.

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Dynamics of prevalence and diversity of avian malaria infections in wild Culex pipiens mosquitoes: the effects of Wolbachia, filarial nematodes and insecticide resistance.

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