Isotopic evidence that aestivation allows malaria mosquitoes to persist through the dry season in the Sahel

Isotopic evidence that aestivation allows malaria mosquitoes to persist through the dry season in the Sahel

Data suggest that the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles coluzzii persists during the dry season in the Sahel through a dormancy mechanism known as aestivation; however, the contribution of aestivation compared with alternative strategies such as migration is unknown. Here we marked larval Anopheles...

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Published in:Nature ecology & evolution Vol. 6; no. 11; pp. 1687 - 1699
Main Authors: Faiman, Roy, Yaro, Alpha S., Dao, Adama, Sanogo, Zana L., Diallo, Moussa, Samake, Djibril, Yossi, Ousmane, Veru, Laura M., Graber, Leland C., Conte, Abigail R., Kouam, Cedric, Krajacich, Benjamin J., Lehmann, Tovi
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-11-2022
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
631/158/2466
631/158/857
Aestivation
Animals
Anopheles
Aquatic insects
Biological and Physical Anthropology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Culicidae
Deuterium
Disease transmission
Dormancy
Dry season
Ecology
Estivation
Evolutionary Biology
Insect control
Life Sciences
Malaria
Mosquito Vectors
Mosquitoes
Paleontology
Seasons
Stable isotopes
Vector-borne diseases
Zoology
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Summary:Data suggest that the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles coluzzii persists during the dry season in the Sahel through a dormancy mechanism known as aestivation; however, the contribution of aestivation compared with alternative strategies such as migration is unknown. Here we marked larval Anopheles mosquitoes in two Sahelian villages in Mali using deuterium ( 2 H) to assess the contribution of aestivation to persistence of mosquitoes through the seven-month dry season. After an initial enrichment period, 33% of An. coluzzii mosquitoes were strongly marked. Seven months following enrichment, multiple analysis methods supported the ongoing presence of marked mosquitoes, compatible with the prediction that the fraction of marked mosquitoes should remain stable throughout the dry season if local aestivation is occurring. The results suggest that aestivation is a major persistence mechanism of An. coluzzii in the Sahel, contributing at least 20% of the adults at the onset of rains. This persistence strategy could influence mosquito control and malaria elimination campaigns. In the Sahel region of West Africa, An. coluzzii mosquitoes appear to survive the dry season locally, but the relative contribution of this subpopulation to the persistence of the species in the Sahel has remained unknown. Here the authors use stable isotope tracking to determine the fraction of mosquitoes that undergo aestivation, a state of dormancy that allows them to persist through the dry season and maintain yearly malaria transmission.
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ISSN:2397-334X
2397-334X
DOI:10.1038/s41559-022-01886-w