Bacterial and Fungal Biomass Responses to Feeding by Larval<i>Aedes triseriatus</i>(Diptera: Culicidae)

Kaufman, Michael G.; Bland, Stephen N.; Worthen, Meredith E.; Walker, Edward D.; Klug, Michael J.

doi:10.1603/0022-2585-38.5.711

Cited by 54 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…1 and 2]). Microorganisms may stimulate egg laying in females (Bentley and Day 1989), leading to greater densities of newly hatched larvae, although feeding by developing larvae may depress those populations (Kaufman et al 2001, Yee et al 2007b) making microorganisms less important predictors of later instars. Early instar Ae.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Lleucine incorporation assay technique is specific to bacteria in aquatic systems (Riemann and Azam 1992) and has been used to quantify bacterial productivity in container mosquito experiments (Kaufman et al 2001, Yee et al 2007a,b, Murrell and Juliano 2008. We measured water column PS following Kirchman (1993) and refined by Kaufman et al (2001) for container systems. Finally, protozoan richness and abundance in each tire were quantified by first gently mixing samples, extracting 1.0 ml into a Sedgewick rafter cell, and enumerating at 100× magnification in a phase contrast microscope (Kneitel and Chase 2004).…”

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Environmental Correlates of Abundances of Mosquito Species and Stages in Discarded Vehicle Tires

Yee¹,

Kneitel

Juliano³

2010

J Med Entomol

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Discarded vehicle tires are a common habitat for container mosquito larvae, although the environmental factors that may control their presence or abundance within a tire are largely unknown. We sampled discarded vehicle tires in six sites located within four counties of central Illinois during the spring and summer of 2006 to determine associations between a suite of environmental factors and community composition of container mosquitoes. Our goal was to find patterns of association between environmental factors and abundances of early and late instars. We hypothesized that environmental factors correlated with early instars would be indicative of oviposition cues, whereas environmental factors correlated with late instars would be those important for larval survival. We collected 13 species of mosquitoes, with six species (Culex restuans, Cx. pipiens, Aedes albopictus, Cx. salinarius, Ae. atropalpus, and Ae. triseriatus) accounting for ≈95% of all larvae. There were similar associations between congenerics and environmental factors, with Aedes associated with detritus type (fine detritus, leaves, seeds) and Culex associated with factors related to the surrounding habitat (human population density, canopy cover, tire size) or microorganisms (bacteria, protozoans). Although there was some consistency in factors that were important for early and late instar abundance, there were few significant associations between early and late instars for individual species. Lack of correspondence between factors that explain variation in early versus late instars, most notable for Culex, suggests a difference between environmental determinants of oviposition and survival within tires. Environmental factors associated with discarded tires are important for accurate predictions of mosquito occurrence at the generic level. KeywordsAedes; bacteria; Culex; detritus; microorganisms Discarded vehicle tires are an important artificial habitat for the larvae of numerous species of disease-carrying container mosquitoes (reviewed in Yee 2008). Tires are important, in part, because of their abundance and proximity to human habitation, and because they are potentially more durable than natural containers (e.g., tree holes). Moreover, tires are an important means of transportation for native (Berry and Craig 1984) and invasive species (Hawley et al. 1987, Peyton et al. 1999. Although the importance of tires as a habitat for container mosquitoes is well documented, there is surprisingly little information about how environments in and around tires relate to mosquito populations and communities. Understanding the environmental factors that affect oviposition and larval survival in tires may be of practical importance for understanding risk of disease transmission in different kinds of habitats, and may aid in planning more effective vector control strategies.The presence of mosquito larvae in a container is the result of two processes: female oviposition choice and larval survival. Female mosquitoes use a variety of sensory cues to lo...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Environmental Correlates of Abundances of Mosquito Species and Stages in Discarded Vehicle Tires

Yee¹,

Kneitel

Juliano³

2010

J Med Entomol

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“…Because Ochlerotatus triseriatus larvae feed indiscriminately on all lower trophic levels, we predicted that stimulation of a basal trophic level (bacteria) with nutrients would result in the increase of only the top consumer/predator level. Further, because larval grazing pressure on surfaceassociated microorganisms appears to be different than on planktonic microorganisms (Kaufman et al 2001), we also predicted that the effects of nutrients would interact with larval presence and elicit different microbial responses in the water column compared to the leaf substrate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soluble nutrient effects on microbial communities and mosquito production in Ochlerotatus triseriatus habitats

Kaufman

Goodfriend

Kohler-Garrigan

et al. 2002

Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

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We investigated the effects of soluble nutrient inputs into larval habitats of Ochlerotatus triseriatus (Diptera: Culicidae) on microbial components and mosquito production using laboratory and field microcosm experiments. Labile carbon, added as glucose, was the most consistent stimulus of bacterial production as measured by leucine incorporation rates. In laboratory experiments, glucose, but not nitrate or phosphate, stimulated bacterial production in natural treehole water samples; however, glucose in combination with nitrate and phosphate was necessary to stimulate bacterial production on laboratory microcosm leaf surfaces. Field microcosm experiments were then conducted in which the nutrient combination was added periodically during larval development. In the first experiment, nutrients were added weekly or not at all in a 2 × 2 factorial design with larval presence or absence. Larval grazing effects on bacterial abundance and production, protozoan and rotifer abundance and biovolume, protozoan cyst abundance, and leaf fungal biomass as measured by ergosterol content, were much more pronounced than any nutrient effects. However, nutrient additions enhanced mosquito survival and affected leaf surface bacterial production. In separate experiments, weekly additions of nutrients at twice the initial concentrations enhanced mosquito production compared to 1 ⁄ 2 initial nutrient concentrations. Additionally, supplementation of nutrients at initial levels, but on successive days during the second week of larval development, enhanced mosquito production relative to additions during the first and third weeks of larval development. Our results show that microbial communities in larval habitats are more likely to be limited by top-down larval feeding effects than bottom-up soluble nutrient inputs; however, mosquito production can be enhanced through soluble nutrient stimulation of microbial growth and the timing of that stimulation.

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“…In particular, there is a need to identify and characterize native promoters that will allow for the expression of gene inserts in these bacteria. Because larval mosquitoes such as Ochlerotatus triseriatus, dwelling in waterfilled tree holes and similar habitats, feed upon Flavobacterium and other microorganisms (19,20,47; M. Kaufman, E. Walker, and S. Chen, unpublished observations), our interest is in the potential use of these highly ingestible bacteria to express genes encoding proteins toxic to mosquito larvae. Here, we report progress towards this end, with emphasis on development of new plasmid systems for genetic transformation in an environmental isolate of Flavobacterium, analysis of native promoter structure and function using the green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter, and an investigation of properties of the RBS.…”

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confidence: 99%

Characterization of Strong Promoters from an Environmental Flavobacterium hibernum Strain by Using a Green Fluorescent Protein-Based Reporter System

Chen¹,

Bagdasarian²,

Kaufman

et al. 2007

Appl Environ Microbiol

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We developed techniques for the genetic manipulation of Flavobacterium species and used it to characterize several promoters found in these bacteria. Our studies utilized Flavobacterium hibernum strain W22, an environmental strain we isolated from tree hole habitats of mosquito larvae. Plasmids from F. hibernum strain W22 were more efficiently (ϳ1,250-fold) transferred by electroporation into F. hibernum strain W22 than those isolated from Escherichia coli, thus indicating that an efficient restriction barrier exists between these species. The strong promoter, tac, functional in proteobacteria, did not function in Flavobacterium strains. Therefore, a promoter-trap plasmid, pSCH03, containing a promoterless gfpmut3 gene was constructed. A library of 9,000 clones containing chromosomal fragments of F. hibernum strain W22 in pSCH03 was screened for their ability to drive expression of the promoterless gfpmut3 gene. Twenty strong promoters were used for further study. The transcription start points were determined from seven promoter clones by the 5 rapid amplification of cDNA ends technique. Promoter consensus sequences from Flavobacterium were identified as TAnnTTTG and TTG, where n is any nucleotide, centered approximately 7 and 33 bp upstream of the transcription start site, respectively. A putative novel ribosome binding site consensus sequence is proposed as TAAAA by aligning the 20-bp regions upstream of the translational start site in 25 genes. Our primary results demonstrate that at least some promoter and ribosome binding site motifs of Flavobacterium strains are unusual within the bacterial domain and suggest an early evolutionary divergence of this bacterial group. The techniques presented here allow for more detailed genetics-based studies and analyses of Flavobacterium species in the environment.

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Bacterial and Fungal Biomass Responses to Feeding by LarvalAedes triseriatus(Diptera: Culicidae)

Cited by 54 publications

References 45 publications

Environmental Correlates of Abundances of Mosquito Species and Stages in Discarded Vehicle Tires

Environmental Correlates of Abundances of Mosquito Species and Stages in Discarded Vehicle Tires

Soluble nutrient effects on microbial communities and mosquito production in Ochlerotatus triseriatus habitats

Characterization of Strong Promoters from an Environmental Flavobacterium hibernum Strain by Using a Green Fluorescent Protein-Based Reporter System

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