Fertility Decline in Aedes Aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes is Associated with Reduced Maternal Transcript Deposition and Does Not Depend on Female Age

Overview

Journal J Med Entomol

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialty Biology

Date 2024 May 17

PMID 38757780

Authors

Olayinka G David

Andrea V Arce

Andre Luis Costa-da-Silva

Anthony J Bellantuono

Matthew DeGennaro

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Female mosquitoes undergo multiple rounds of reproduction known as gonotrophic cycles (GC). A gonotrophic cycle spans the period from blood meal intake to egg laying. Nutrients from vertebrate host blood are necessary for completing egg development. During oogenesis, a female prepackages mRNA into her oocytes, and these maternal transcripts drive the first 2 h of embryonic development prior to zygotic genome activation. In this study, we profiled transcriptional changes in 1-2 h of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) embryos across 2 GC. We found that homeotic genes which are regulators of embryogenesis are downregulated in embryos from the second gonotrophic cycle. Interestingly, embryos produced by Ae. aegypti females progressively reduced their ability to hatch as the number of GC increased. We show that this fertility decline is due to increased reproductive output and not the mosquitoes' age. Moreover, we found a similar decline in fertility and fecundity across 3 GC in Aedes albopictus. Our results are useful for predicting mosquito population dynamics to inform vector control efforts.

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