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Computational and experimental insights into the chemosensory navigation of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae
Mosquitoes are prolific disease vectors that affect public health around the world. Although many studies have investigated search strategies used by host-seeking adult mosquitoes, little is known about larval search behaviour. Larval behaviour affects adult body size and fecundity, and thus the cap...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
The Royal Society
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6892055/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31744443 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1495 |
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author | Lutz, Eleanor K. Grewal, Tjinder S. Riffell, Jeffrey A. |
author_facet | Lutz, Eleanor K. Grewal, Tjinder S. Riffell, Jeffrey A. |
author_sort | Lutz, Eleanor K. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Mosquitoes are prolific disease vectors that affect public health around the world. Although many studies have investigated search strategies used by host-seeking adult mosquitoes, little is known about larval search behaviour. Larval behaviour affects adult body size and fecundity, and thus the capacity of individual mosquitoes to find hosts and transmit disease. Understanding vector survival at all life stages is crucial for improving disease control. In this study, we use experimental and computational methods to investigate the chemical ecology and search behaviour of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae. We first show that larvae do not respond to several olfactory cues used by adult Ae. aegypti to assess larval habitat quality, but perceive microbial RNA as a potent foraging attractant. Second, we demonstrate that Ae. aegypti larvae use chemokinesis, an unusual search strategy, to navigate chemical gradients. Finally, we use computational modelling to demonstrate that larvae respond to starvation pressure by optimizing exploration behaviour—possibly critical for exploiting limited larval habitat types. Our results identify key characteristics of foraging behaviour in an important disease vector mosquito. In addition to implications for better understanding and control of disease vectors, this work establishes mosquito larvae as a tractable model for chemosensory behaviour and navigation. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6892055 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | The Royal Society |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-68920552019-12-04 Computational and experimental insights into the chemosensory navigation of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae Lutz, Eleanor K. Grewal, Tjinder S. Riffell, Jeffrey A. Proc Biol Sci Neuroscience and Cognition Mosquitoes are prolific disease vectors that affect public health around the world. Although many studies have investigated search strategies used by host-seeking adult mosquitoes, little is known about larval search behaviour. Larval behaviour affects adult body size and fecundity, and thus the capacity of individual mosquitoes to find hosts and transmit disease. Understanding vector survival at all life stages is crucial for improving disease control. In this study, we use experimental and computational methods to investigate the chemical ecology and search behaviour of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae. We first show that larvae do not respond to several olfactory cues used by adult Ae. aegypti to assess larval habitat quality, but perceive microbial RNA as a potent foraging attractant. Second, we demonstrate that Ae. aegypti larvae use chemokinesis, an unusual search strategy, to navigate chemical gradients. Finally, we use computational modelling to demonstrate that larvae respond to starvation pressure by optimizing exploration behaviour—possibly critical for exploiting limited larval habitat types. Our results identify key characteristics of foraging behaviour in an important disease vector mosquito. In addition to implications for better understanding and control of disease vectors, this work establishes mosquito larvae as a tractable model for chemosensory behaviour and navigation. The Royal Society 2019-11-20 2019-11-20 /pmc/articles/PMC6892055/ /pubmed/31744443 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1495 Text en © 2019 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Neuroscience and Cognition Lutz, Eleanor K. Grewal, Tjinder S. Riffell, Jeffrey A. Computational and experimental insights into the chemosensory navigation of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae |
title | Computational and experimental insights into the chemosensory navigation of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae |
title_full | Computational and experimental insights into the chemosensory navigation of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae |
title_fullStr | Computational and experimental insights into the chemosensory navigation of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae |
title_full_unstemmed | Computational and experimental insights into the chemosensory navigation of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae |
title_short | Computational and experimental insights into the chemosensory navigation of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae |
title_sort | computational and experimental insights into the chemosensory navigation of aedes aegypti mosquito larvae |
topic | Neuroscience and Cognition |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6892055/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31744443 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1495 |
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