Interplay between urban health and mosquito-borne diseases: example of the tiger mosquito in urban environments

• Grant number: 20/06136-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2020
• End date: November 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Entomology and Malacology of Parasites and Vectors
• Agreement: Université de Lyon (UDL)
• Principal Investigator: Jayme Augusto de Souza-Neto
• Grantee: Jayme Augusto de Souza-Neto
• Principal researcher abroad: Valiente Moro Claire
• Institution abroad: Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Ana Cristina Bahia Nascimento
• Associated scholarship(s): 21/13339-2 - Characterization of the intestinal microbiota from immature forms of the Aedes albopictus mosquito, BP.TT

Abstract

Due to sanitary risks associated with the presence of the Asian tiger mosquito Ae. albopictus in urban areas, better knowledge is needed to disentangle factors related to human-induced environmental changes favoring its proliferation in cities. While mosquito ecology has been fairly well investigated, there is still little information on its associated microbiota. However, those microorganisms, which are predominantly acquired and influenced by breeding sites water, play a key role in mosquitoes biology. Thus, the selection of specific microorganism communities in larval habitats by certain environmental parameters might facilitate mosquito development, survival and vectorial capacity. In this context, this project aims at investigating the impact of domestic and industrial wastes on microbial composition of larval habitats in urban and peri-urban environments and how habitat- related microorganisms influence in turn mosquito biology including their vectorial capacity. The project will focus on Lyon and São Paulo, two of the largest cities in France and Brazil, respectively. Physicochemical parameters, microbial composition and larval densities will be assessed for each selected water sample. Those three parameters will be cross-correlated. If some strong correlations are highlighted between the presence and density of the Asian tiger mosquito and that of particular microorganisms and physicochemical parameters, a cause-effect relationship will be checked under controlled experiments. We will select relevant isolated microorganisms to generate gnotobiotic mosquitoes and compare life history (development rate, survival, fecundity), physiological (immune responses, vector competence) and behavioral (microorganisms as environmental cues) traits. This project will provide new insights on the link between human-induced environmental changes, mosquito microbiota and its vectorial capacity. (AU)