A mating-induced reproductive gene promotes Anopheles tolerance to Plasmodium falciparum infection
Loading...
Files
Date
2020-12-21
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PLoS Pathog
Abstract
Anopheles mosquitoes have transmitted Plasmodium parasites for millions of years, yet it
remains unclear whether they suffer fitness costs to infection. Here we report that the fecundity of virgin and mated females of two important vectors—Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles stephensi—is not affected by infection with Plasmodium falciparum, demonstrating that
these human malaria parasites do not inflict this reproductive cost on their natural mosquito
hosts. Additionally, parasite development is not impacted by mating status. However, in field
studies using different P. falciparum isolates in Anopheles coluzzii, we find that MatingInduced Stimulator of Oogenesis (MISO), a female reproductive gene strongly induced after
mating by the sexual transfer of the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), protects
females from incurring fecundity costs to infection. MISO-silenced females produce fewer
eggs as they become increasingly infected with P. falciparum, while parasite development is
not impacted by this gene silencing. Interestingly, previous work had shown that sexual
transfer of 20E has specifically evolved in Cellia species of the Anopheles genus, driving the
co-adaptation of MISO. Our data therefore suggest that evolution of male-female sexual
interactions may have promoted Anopheles tolerance to P. falciparum infection in the Cellia
subgenus, which comprises the most important malaria vectors.
Description
Keywords
Anopheles gambiae, eggs, mosquitoes, Sara N. Mitchell, Adam South, CEA-ITECH_MTV, ACE: Bio-technological Innovation for the Elimination of Vector- Borne Diseases, Université Nazi Boni, Burkina Faso
Citation
Marcenac P, Shaw WR, Kakani EG, Mitchell SN, South A, Werling K, et al. (2020) A mating-induced reproductive gene promotes Anopheles tolerance to Plasmodium falciparum infection. PLoS Pathog 16(12): e1008908. https:// doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1008908