<i>Aedes aegypti</i> (Diptera: Culicidae) Immune Responses with Different Feeding Regimes Following Infection by the Entomopathogenic Fungus <i>Metarhizium anisopliae</i>

oleh: Sara Cabral, Adriano de Paula, Richard Samuels, Rodrigo da Fonseca, Simone Gomes, José Roberto Silva, Flávia Mury

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-02-01

Deskripsi

The mosquito <i>Aedes aegypti</i> is the most notorious vector of illness-causing viruses. The use of entomopathogenic fungi as bioinsecticides is a promising alternative for the development of novel mosquito control strategies. We investigate whether differences in immune responses could be responsible for modifications in survival rates of insects following different feeding regimes. Sucrose and blood-fed adult <i>A. aegypti</i> females were sprayed with <i>M. anisopliae</i> 1 &#215; 10<sup>6</sup> conidia mL<sup>&#8722;1</sup>, and after 48 h, the midgut and fat body were dissected. We used RT-qPCR to monitor the expression of Cactus and REL1 (Toll pathway), IMD, REL2, and Caspar (IMD pathway), STAT and PIAS (JAK-STAT pathway), as well as the expression of antimicrobial peptides (Defensin A, Attacin and Cecropin G). REL1 and REL2 expression in both the midgut and fat body were higher in blood-fed fungus-challenged <i>A. aegypti</i> than in sucrose-fed counterparts. Interestingly, infection of sucrose-fed insects induced Cactus expression in the fat body, a negative regulator of the Toll pathway. The IMD gene was upregulated in the fat body in response to fungal infection after a blood meal. Additionally, we observed the induction of antimicrobial peptides in the blood-fed fungus-challenged insects. This study suggests that blood-fed <i>A. aegypti</i> are less susceptible to fungal infection due to the rapid induction of Toll and IMD immune pathways.