Dengue and chikungunya viruses, causative agents of the globe's two most important arboviral diseases, are transmitted to humans predominantly by the widespread invasive mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Following its broad diaspora during the last three decades from Asia, A. albopictus has established in new continents and countries where its invaded distribution often overlaps that of A. aegypti, originally native to Africa. Many recent invasions by A. albopictus have led to reductions, sometimes quite rapidly, in abundance and range of previously established A. aegypti. Despite the potential impacts of such displacements on arbovirus epidemiology, our current understanding of causative mechanisms is inadequate to explain the observed patterns of rapid reductions of A. aegypti populations. This application resurrects and tests a neglected potential mechanism, asymmetric reproductive interference, based on new preliminary results which show that (1) A. albopictus and A. aegypti mate at sites of sympatry in south Florida and (2) heterospecific male accessory gland products, transferred during mating, sterilize A. aegypti, but not A. albopictus, females. Experiments and observations are proposed to strengthen understanding how reproductive interference, of a type known as satyrization, may lead to the observed rapid displacements of A. aegypti by A. albopictus. A major thrust of this research tests whether allopatric populations of A. aegypti are more susceptible to satyrization than populations with a history of sympatry with A. albopictus. Important to future research on this subject, the application will improve and expedite the molecular diagnostic tools used to detect heterospecific matings in nature and experimentally in outdoor cages. Employing sympatric and allopatric populations of the two species which occur naturally in Florida, Aim #1 will test in large outdoor cages the hypothesis that A. aegypti which have been geographically isolated from A. albopictus will be more susceptible to heterospecific matings. Varying relative abundances of recent Florida colonies of the two species in outdoor cages, Aim #2 will validate a satyrization model and quantify how encounter frequency determines the incidence of heterospecific matings. Taking advantage of collaborators who will assist with collections in Asia, Africa, and South America, Aim #3 will test the hypothesis that the frequency of heterospecific mating between A. albopictus and A. aegypti is inversely proportional to the time since sympatry of natural or invaded populations.

Public Health Relevance

The two investigated species, A. aegypti and A. albopictus, are not only the primary epidemic vectors of dengue and chikungunya viruses, but also the most invasive mosquitoes on the planet. The exploratory research of this application will indentify circumstances that favor heterospecific mating between these species, a likely cause of competitive displacement favoring A. albopictus. Understanding causes of competitive displacement may improve surveillance strategies for arboviruses transmitted by these species, and this research should open pathways for additional studies on reproductive interference, proposed as a pest suppression strategy, between arthropod disease vectors.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
5R21AI095780-02
Application #
8291957
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-IDM-M (02))
Program Officer
Costero, Adriana
Project Start
2011-07-01
Project End
2014-06-30
Budget Start
2012-07-01
Budget End
2014-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$183,125
Indirect Cost
$58,125
Name
University of Florida
Department
Zoology
Type
Schools of Earth Sciences/Natur
DUNS #
969663814
City
Gainesville
State
FL
Country
United States
Zip Code
32611
Lounibos, L Philip; Juliano, Steven A (2018) Where Vectors Collide: The Importance of Mechanisms Shaping the Realized Niche for Modeling Ranges of Invasive Aedes Mosquitoes. Biol Invasions 20:1913-1929
Bargielowski, Irka Ewa; Lounibos, Leon Philip (2016) Satyrization and satyrization-resistance in competitive displacements of invasive mosquito species. Insect Sci 23:162-74
Lounibos, Leon Philip; Kramer, Laura D (2016) Invasiveness of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus and Vectorial Capacity for Chikungunya Virus. J Infect Dis 214:S453-S458
Rey, Jorge R; Lounibos, Philip (2015) [Ecology of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in the Americas and disease transmission]. Biomedica 35:177-85
Carrasquilla, María C; Lounibos, L Philip (2015) Satyrization without evidence of successful insemination from interspecific mating between invasive mosquitoes. Biol Lett 11:20150527
Bargielowski, I E; Lounibos, L P; Shin, D et al. (2015) Widespread evidence for interspecific mating between Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in nature. Infect Genet Evol 36:456-461
Bargielowski, Irka; Blosser, Erik; Lounibos, L P (2015) The Effects of Interspecific Courtship on the Mating Success of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) Males. Ann Entomol Soc Am 108:513-518
Carrasquilla, María C; Lounibos, L Philip (2015) Detection of insemination status in live Aedes aegypti females. J Insect Physiol 75:1-4
Ribeiro, José M C; Chagas, Andrezza C; Pham, Van M et al. (2014) An insight into the sialome of the frog biting fly, Corethrella appendiculata. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 44:23-32
Bargielowski, I; Lounibos, L P (2014) Rapid evolution of reduced receptivity to interspecific mating in the dengue vector Aedes aegypti in response to satyrization by invasive Aedes albopictus. Evol Ecol 28:193-203

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