Modulation of Malaria infection in anopheles gambiae mosquitoes exposed to natural midgut bacteria
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The development of Plasmodium falciparum within the Anopheles gambiae mosquito relies on complex vector-parasite interactions, however the resident midgut microbiota also plays an important role in mediating parasite infection. In natural conditions, the mosquito microbial flora is diverse, composed of commensal and symbiotic bacteria. We report here the isolation of culturable midgut bacteria from mosquitoes collected in the field in Cameroon and their identification based on the 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We next measured the effect of selected natural bacterial isolates on Plasmodium falciparum infection prevalence and intensity over multiple infectious feedings and found that the bacteria significantly reduced the prevalence and intensity of infection. These results contrast with our previous study where the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae positively correlated with P. falciparum infection (Boissière et al. 2012). The oral infection of bacteria probably led to the disruption of the gut homeostasis and activated immune responses, and this pinpoints the importance of studying microbe-parasite interactions in natural conditions. Our results indicate that the effect of bacterial exposure on P. falciparum infection varies with factors from the parasite and the human host and calls for deeper dissection of these parameters for accurate interpretation of bacterial exposure results in laboratory settings.
Date Issued
2013-12-06
Date Acceptance
2013-10-15
Citation
PLoS One, 2013, 8 (12), pp.1-9
ISSN
1932-6203
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Start Page
1
End Page
9
Journal / Book Title
PLoS One
Volume
8
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
© 2013 Tchioffo et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000328566700049&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
MR/K010174/1B
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM
SPOROGONIC DEVELOPMENT
VERTICAL TRANSMISSION
INDEPENDENT METHODS
DIVERSITY
CULICIDAE
PARASITE
DIPTERA
MICROBIOTA
SYMBIONTS
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN e81663
Date Publish Online
2013-12-06