Dataset Information

Climate and Urbanization Drive Mosquito Preference for Humans.

ABSTRACT: The majority of mosquito-borne illness is spread by a few mosquito species that have evolved to specialize in biting humans, yet the precise causes of this behavioral shift are poorly understood. We address this gap in the arboviral vector Aedes aegypti. We first collect and characterize the behavior of mosquitoes from 27 sites scattered across the species' ancestral range in sub-Saharan Africa, revealing previously unrecognized variation in preference for human versus animal odor. We then use modeling to show that over 80% of this variation can be predicted by two ecological factors-dry season intensity and human population density. Finally, we integrate this information with whole-genome sequence data from 375 individual mosquitoes to identify a single underlying ancestry component linked to human preference. Genetic changes associated with human specialist ancestry were concentrated in a few chromosomal regions. Our findings suggest that human-biting in this important disease vector originally evolved as a by-product of breeding in human-stored water in areas where doing so provided the only means to survive the long, hot dry season. Our model also predicts that the rapid urbanization currently taking place in Africa will drive further mosquito evolution, causing a shift toward human-biting in many large cities by 2050.

SUBMITTER: Rose NH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7511451 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Climate and Urbanization Drive Mosquito Preference for Humans.

Rose Noah H NH Sylla Massamba M Badolo Athanase A Lutomiah Joel J Ayala Diego D Aribodor Ogechukwu B OB Ibe Nnenna N Akorli Jewelna J Otoo Sampson S Mutebi John-Paul JP Kriete Alexis L AL Ewing Eliza G EG Sang Rosemary R Gloria-Soria Andrea A Powell Jeffrey R JR Baker Rachel E RE White Bradley J BJ Crawford Jacob E JE McBride Carolyn S CS

Current biology : CB 20200723 18

The majority of mosquito-borne illness is spread by a few mosquito species that have evolved to specialize in biting humans, yet the precise causes of this behavioral shift are poorly understood. We address this gap in the arboviral vector Aedes aegypti. We first collect and characterize the behavior of mosquitoes from 27 sites scattered across the species' ancestral range in sub-Saharan Africa, revealing previously unrecognized variation in preference for human versus animal odor. We then use m ...[more]

PMID: 32707056

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Project description:Urban sprawl is one of the most common landscape alterations occurring worldwide, and there is a growing list of species that are recognised to have adapted to urban life. To be successful, processes of urban colonization by wildlife require a broad spectrum of phenotypic (e.g., behavioural or physiological) adjustments, but evidence for genetic adaptations is much scarcer. One hypothesis proposes that different pathogen-driven selective pressures between urban and non-urban landscapes leads to adaptations in host immune genes. Here, we examined urbanization-related differentiation at the key pathogen-recognition genes of vertebrate adaptive immunity-the major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-in a common waterbird, the Eurasian coot (Fulica atra). Samples were collected from an old urban population (established before the 1950s), a new urban population (established in the 2000s), and two rural populations from central Poland. We found strong significant divergence (as measured with Jost's D) at the MHC class II between the old urban population and the remaining (new urban and rural) populations. Also, there was a moderate, but significant divergence at the MHC between the new urban population and two rural populations, while no divergence was found between the two rural populations. The total number of MHC alleles and the number of private (population-specific) MHC alleles was lower in old urban populations, as compared to the rural ones. These patterns of differentiation at the MHC were not consistent with patterns found for neutral genetic markers (microsatellites), which showed few differences between the populations. Our results indicate that MHC allele composition depended on the level of anthropogenic disturbance and the time which passed since urban colonization, possibly due to the processes of genotype sorting and local adaptation. As such, our study contributes to the understanding of genetic mechanisms associated with urbanization processes in wildlife.

Dataset Information

Climate and Urbanization Drive Mosquito Preference for Humans.

Publications

Climate and Urbanization Drive Mosquito Preference for Humans.

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