Biology subjects

El-Dougdoug, N. K.

Publications and source records attributed to El-Dougdoug, N. K..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

The microbiota impacts life history traits and mating success in male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmit multiple arboviruses, but population suppression through the mass release of sterile or incompatible male mosquitoes can effectively reduce populations. These methods depend on the reliable mass-rearing of healthy, robust males that can successfully mate with wild females. The microbiota, a critical component of the larval diet, can dramatically influence life history traits relevant to mass-rearing and male quality. Here, we used axenic (microbe-free), monoxenic (inoculated with E. coli), and "laboratory community" mosquitoes (inoculated with an undefined microbiota derived from laboratory mosquitoes) to show that longevity was significantly enhanced in axenic and monoxenic males compared to laboratory community males. Moreover, monoxenic males more efficiently obtained mates in non-competitive mating scenarios compared to laboratory community males. However, microbiota treatment had no effect when males from different treatments competed for a mate. Our findings suggest that the microbiota is a key determinant of male mosquito life history with direct implications for optimizing production of males for control programs. TeaserThe microbiota of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes affects multiple male life history traits.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2026

Addition of a single bacterial isolate to conventional larval rearing water can impact wing size and longevity in adult male Aedes aegypti.

Male mosquitoes are mass-reared around the globe for use in mosquito control programs like Sterile Insect Technique and Incompatible Insect Technique. During larval development, mosquitoes co-exist with complex microbial communities that serve as food and also form the internal microbiota of the organism. The microbiota can impact multiple larval and adult life history traits including development rate and male body size. In the present study, we investigated how male wing length and adult male longevity is impacted by the addition of a single bacterial isolate to otherwise conventional larval rearing water. Of three isolates tested, we found that larval exposure to one, Cedecea sp., resulted in adult males with significantly reduced wing length and longevity. Our findings suggest that minor modifications of the microbial community during larval development can have life-long effects on mosquitoes which, like many organisms, acquire their microbiota from the environment. Moreover, they suggest that mosquito life history traits can be influenced by small shifts in the microbial rearing community, which could impact the efficacy and efficiency of mosquito mass rearing for vector control.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

Temporally dynamic effects of adult diet on resistance and tolerance to bacterial infection in Aedes aegypti

Immune defense is comprised of 1) resistance: the ability to reduce pathogen load, and 2) tolerance: the ability to limit the disease severity induced by a given pathogen load. The study of tolerance in the field of animal immunity is fairly nascent in comparison to resistance. Consequently, studies which examine immune defense comprehensively (i.e., considering both resistance and tolerance in conjunction) are uncommon, despite their exigency in achieving a thorough understanding of immune defense. Furthermore, understanding tolerance in arthropod disease vectors is uniquely relevant, as tolerance is essential to the cyclical transmission of pathogens by arthropods. Here, we tested the effect(s) of dietary sucrose concentration (high or low) and blood meal (present or absent) on resistance and tolerance to Escherichia coli infection in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti. Resistance and tolerance were measured concurrently and at multiple timepoints. We found that both blood and sucrose affected resistance. Mosquitoes from the low sugar treatment displayed enhanced resistance at all timepoints post-infection compared to those from the high sugar treatment. Additionally, blood-fed mosquitoes showed enhanced resistance compared to non-blood-fed mosquitoes, but only on day 1 post-infection. Sucrose had no effect on tolerance, but the effect of blood was significant and dynamic across time. Specifically, we show that consuming blood prior to infection ameliorates a temporal decline in tolerance that mosquitoes experience when provided with only sugar meals. Taken together, our findings indicate that different dietary components can have unique and sometimes temporally dynamic impacts on resistance and tolerance. Finally, our findings 1) highlight the value of experimental and analytical frameworks which consider the explicit testing of effects on both resistance and tolerance as separate, but equally important, components of immune defense, and 2) underscore the importance of including a temporal component in studies of immune defense.

immunology↗