Blood serum and BSA, but neither red blood cells nor hemoglobin can support vitellogenesis and egg production in the dengue vector Aedes aegypti

Abstract

Aedes aegypti is the major vector of dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya viruses that put millions of people in endemic countries at risk. Mass rearing of this mosquito is crucial for strategies that use modified insects to reduce vector populations and transmission of pathogens, such as sterile insect technique or population replacement. A major problem for vector mosquito mass rearing is the requirement of vertebrate blood for egg production since it poses significant costs as well as potential health hazards. Also regulations for human and animal use as blood source can pose a significant obstacle. A completely artificial diet that supports egg production in vector mosquitoes can solve this problem. In this study, we compared different blood fractions as dietary protein sources for mosquito egg production. We also tested artificial diets made from commercially available blood proteins (bovine serum albumin (BSA) and hemoglobin). We found that Ae. aegypti performed vitellogenesis and produced eggs when given whole bovine blood, serum, or an artificial diet containing BSA. Conversely, egg production was impaired after feeding of the red blood cell fraction or an artificial diet containing only hemoglobin. Our results indicate that serum proteins, not hemoglobin, may replace vertebrate blood in artificial diets for mass mosquito rearing.

The Use of Frozen, Food-Grade Blood to Successfully Maintain Colonies of Four Species of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae)

“…aegypti and Ae. albopictus ( Tseng 2003 , Costa-da-Silva et al 2013 , Carvahlo et al 2014 , Gonzales et al 2015 , Gunathilaka et al 2017 , Sri-In et al 2020 ). Another alternative to animal-based membranes is the use of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tape (‘plumber’s tape’), which resulted in 100% feeding success in Ae.…”

“…Expired human blood has been used successfully and can be purchased from blood banks and hospitals where available ( Kasap et al 2003 , Nasirian and Ladonni 2006 , Pothikasikorn et al 2010 ). Another option is using components of blood in place of whole blood, such as bovine serum albumin ( Rutledge et al 1964 , Gonzales et al 2015 ), and erythrocyte extract ( Rutledge et al 1964 ). These options may also be cost-prohibitive or require technical knowledge to prepare the components in-house.…”

“…The elements needed to successfully elicit blood feeding by mosquitoes using artificial methods include the following: blood source, heat source, membrane, and a vessel or substrate to contain the blood. Optional additions to increase blood-feeding success include: host cues (e.g., odors from human skin; Costa-da-Silva et al 2013 , Carvahlo et al 2014 , Gonzales et al 2015 ); a source of carbon dioxide ( McMeniman et al 2014 ); and phagostimulants such as ATP ( Rutledge et al 1964 , Bailey et al 1978 , Gonzales et al 2015 , Sri-In et al 2020 ). Different combinations of each of these components may be more appropriate for certain species and strains of mosquitoes.…”

A Blood-Free Diet to Rear Anopheline Mosquitoes

“…Recently research has been focused on the development of blood substitutes that mimic a vertebrate blood meal but so far, only limited success has been achieved 6,7,8,9 . A successful artificial diet needs to (1) provoke full female mosquito engorgement, (2) trigger vitellogenin production, (3) produce large batches of viable eggs, and (4) generate heathy progeny 10 . In addition, artificial diets have a standard composition and thus are more reliable for production of mosquitoes for research and control purposes.…”