Parasitism of Aedes albopictus by Ascogregarina taiwanensis lowers its competitive ability against Aedes triseriatus

Stump, Emma; Childs, Lauren M.; Walker, Melody

doi:10.1186/s13071-021-04581-0

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…All wild pupae sampled were positive for As. taiwanensis infection, confirming that that the parasite was present in the larval water before it was filtered since the parasite is acquired during the larval stage from the environment (Stump et al, 2021). All wild adults sampled were also positive for the infection.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

Filtration of environmentally sourced aquatic media impacts laboratory‐colonised Aedes albopictus early development and adult bacteriome composition

Griffin

Weber

Seabourn

et al. 2023

Medical Vet Entomology

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Microorganisms form close associations with metazoan hosts forming symbiotic communities, known as microbiomes, that modulate host physiological processes. Mosquitoes are of special interest in exploring microbe‐modulated host processes due to their oversized impact on human health. However, most mosquito work is done under controlled laboratory conditions where natural microbiomes are not present and inferences from these studies may not extend to natural populations. Here we attempt to assemble a wild‐resembling bacteriome under laboratory conditions in an established laboratory colony of Aedes albopictus using aquatic media from environmentally‐exposed and differentially filtered larval habitats. While we did not successfully replicate a wild bacteriome using these filtrations, we show that these manipulations alter the bacteriomes of mosquitoes, generating a unique composition not seen in wild populations collected from and near our source water or in our laboratory colony. We also demonstrate that our filtration regimens impact larval development times, as well as impact adult survival on different carbohydrate diets.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

Filtration of environmentally sourced aquatic media impacts laboratory‐colonised Aedes albopictus early development and adult bacteriome composition

Griffin

Weber

Seabourn

et al. 2023

Medical Vet Entomology

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“…Recently, a mathematical model predicted A. albopictus competitiveness against the tree hole mosquito Aedes triseriatus in presence of gregarine parasites ( 96 ). In most scenarios, A. albopictus dominates A. triseriatus , but A. taiwanensis infection may decrease the competitiveness of its host by increasing the larval development time and inducing a higher mortality, according to other studies ( 66 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-aided dispersal and population bottlenecks facilitate parasitism escape in the most invasive mosquito species

Girard,

Martin,

Vallon

et al. 2024

PNAS Nexus

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During biological invasion process, species encounter new environments and partially escape some ecological constraints they faced in their native range, while they face new ones. The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is one of the most iconic invasive species introduced in every inhabited continent due to international trade. It has also been shown to be infected by a prevalent yet disregarded microbial entomoparasite Ascogregarina taiwanensis. In this study, we aimed at deciphering the factors that shape the global dynamics of As. taiwanensis infection in natural Ae. albopictus populations. We showed that Ae. albopictus populations are highly colonized by several parasite genotypes but recently introduced ones are escaping it. We further performed experiments based on the invasion process to explain such pattern. To that end, we hypothesized that (i) mosquito passive dispersal (i.e. human-aided egg transportation) may affect the parasite infectiveness, (ii) founder effects (i.e. population establishment by a small number of mosquitoes) may influence the parasite dynamics and (iii) unparasitized mosquitoes are more prompt to found new populations through active flight dispersal. The two first hypotheses were supported as we showed that parasite infection decreases over time when dry eggs are stored and that experimental increase in mosquitoes’ density improves the parasite horizontal transmission to larvae. Surprisingly, parasitized mosquitoes tend to be more active than their unparasitized relatives. Finally, this study highlights the importance of global trade as a driver of biological invasion of the most invasive arthropod vector species.

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“…Recently, a mathematical model predicted the Asian tiger mosquito competitiveness against the tree hole mosquito Ae. triseriatus in presence of gregarine parasites (Stump et al, 2021). In most of scenarii, Ae.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…albopictus competitiveness against the tree hole mosquito Ae. triseriatus in presence of gregarine parasites (97). In most scenarii, Ae.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-aided dispersal and population bottlenecks facilitate parasitism escape in the most invasive mosquito species

Girard

Luis

BETTIGNIES

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Human-aided invasion of alien species across the world sometimes leads to economic, health or environmental burdens. During invasion process, species encounter new environments and partially escape some ecological constrains they faced in their native range, while they face new ones. The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is one of the most iconic invasive species that was introduced in every inhabited continent over a short period of time due to international trade. It has also been shown to be infected by a prevalent and yet disregarded gregarine entomoparasite Ascogregarina taiwanensis. In this study, we aimed at deciphering the global dynamics of As. taiwanensis infection in natural Ae. albopictus populations and we further explored factors shaping its distribution. We showed that Ae. albopictus populations are highly colonized by several As. taiwanesis genotypes but recently introduced ones are escaping the parasite. We further performed experiments to explain such pattern. First, we hypothesized that founder effects (i.e. population establishment by a small number of individuals) may influence the parasite dynamics. This was confirmed since experimental increase in mosquito density improves the parasite horizontal transmission to larvae. Furthermore, Ae. albopictus larvae do not exhibit density dependent prophylaxis to control the parasite meaning that infection is not mitigated when larval density increases. Secondly, we hypothesized that unparasitized mosquitoes were more prompt to found new populations through active flight dispersal. This was, however, unlikely since parasitized mosquitoes tend to be more active than their unparasitized relatives. Finally, we hypothesized that mosquito passive dispersal (i.e. often mediated by human-aided transportation of dried eggs) affects the parasite infectiveness. Our results support this hypothesis since parasite infection decreases over time when dry eggs are stored. This study highlights the importance of global trade on parasitism escape in one of the most invasive vector species on earth.

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Parasitism of Aedes albopictus by Ascogregarina taiwanensis lowers its competitive ability against Aedes triseriatus

Cited by 5 publications

References 63 publications

Filtration of environmentally sourced aquatic media impacts laboratory‐colonised Aedes albopictus early development and adult bacteriome composition

Filtration of environmentally sourced aquatic media impacts laboratory‐colonised Aedes albopictus early development and adult bacteriome composition

Human-aided dispersal and population bottlenecks facilitate parasitism escape in the most invasive mosquito species

Human-aided dispersal and population bottlenecks facilitate parasitism escape in the most invasive mosquito species

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