Larval nutritional stress affects vector life history traits and human malaria transmission.

ABSTRACT: Exposure to stress during an insect's larval development can have carry-over effects on adult life history traits and susceptibility to pathogens. We investigated the effects of larval nutritional stress for the first time using field mosquito vectors and malaria parasites. In contrast to previous studies, we show that larval nutritional stress may affect human to mosquito transmission antagonistically: nutritionally deprived larvae showed lower parasite prevalence for only one gametocyte carrier; they also had lower fecundity. However, they had greater survival rates that were even higher when infected. When combining these opposing effects into epidemiological models, we show that larval nutritional stress induced a decrease in malaria transmission at low mosquito densities and an increa

SUBMITTER: Vantaux A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5101500 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature