The costs of mounting an immune response are reflected in the reproductive fitness of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae

We have used Anopheles gambiae, a major vector of malaria in Africa, to test the hypothesis that the operation of a surveillance or immune system against microorganisms and parasites can be costly to the reproductive success of the host. Blood-fed mosquitoes were challenged with an immune elicitor,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Oikos Vol. 97; no. 3; pp. 371 - 377
Main Authors:	Ahmed, A. M., Baggott, S. L., Maingon, R., Hurd, H.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Copenhagen Munksgaard International Publishers 01-06-2002 Blackwell Publishers Blackwell
Subjects:	Animal and plant ecology Animal, plant and microbial ecology Animals Autoecology Biological and medical sciences Blood Fecundity Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Infections Insect reproduction Insect vectors Malaria Mosquitos Ovaries Parasite hosts Parasites Protozoa. Invertebrata Animal microorganism relation Insecta Resource allocation Cost benefit analysis Dose activity relation Reproduction Anopheles gambiae Energetic cost Gram positive bacteria Breeding success Lipopolysaccharide Bacteria Micrococcales Micrococcaceae Reproductive effort Immune response Host Experimental study Micrococcus luteus Immunostimulant agent Arthropoda Culicidae Invertebrata Antibacterial agent Diptera Fitness
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Summary:	We have used Anopheles gambiae, a major vector of malaria in Africa, to test the hypothesis that the operation of a surveillance or immune system against microorganisms and parasites can be costly to the reproductive success of the host. Blood-fed mosquitoes were challenged with an immune elicitor, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and their resultant antimicrobial activity, accumulation of yolk protein in the ovary and egg production was monitored. Humoral activity against the Gram-positive bacterium Micrococcus luteus was induced by LPS injection in a dose-responsive manner. LPS treatment also caused a concomitant significant reduction in the accumulation of protein in ovaries 24 h after injection and in the production of eggs during the same gonotrophic cycle. Unlike immune stimulation, reduction in reproductive fitness was not dose responsive. Oral administration of LPS also significantly reduced ovarian protein content although we could not detect the presence of anti-M. luteus activity in the gut tissue by using an inhibition zone assay. These findings indicate that immune stimulation imposed reproductive fitness costs on mosquitoes.
Bibliography:	ark:/67375/WNG-9HVGQ29J-V istex:BB955F5B68C864EC971219A42F7FE99EFBBBE629 ArticleID:OIK970307 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23
ISSN:	0030-1299 1600-0706
DOI:	10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.970307.x