1. Nutritional sex-specificity on bacterial metabolites during mosquito (Aedes aegypti) development leads to adult sex-ratio distortion.
- Author
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Romoli O, Serrato-Salas J, Gapp C, Epelboin Y, Figueras Ivern P, Barras F, and Gendrin M
- Subjects
- Animals, Female, Male, Vitamin B Complex pharmacology, Biotin metabolism, Biotin pharmacology, Bacteria metabolism, Bacteria genetics, Aedes drug effects, Aedes growth & development, Aedes microbiology, Aedes metabolism, Sex Ratio, Larva growth & development, Larva microbiology, Larva drug effects
- Abstract
Mosquitoes rely on their microbiota for B vitamin synthesis. We previously found that Aedes aegypti third-instar larvae cleared of their microbiota were impaired in their development, notably due to a lack of folic acid (vitamin B9). In this study, we found that diet supplementation using a cocktail of seven B vitamins did not improve mosquito developmental success, but rather had a significant impact on the sex-ratio of the resulting adults, with an enrichment of female mosquitoes emerging from B vitamin-treated larvae. A transcriptomic analysis of male and female larvae identified some sex-specific regulated genes upon vitamin treatment. When treating germ-free larvae with individual B vitamins, we detected a specific toxic effect related to biotin (vitamin B7) exposure at high concentrations. We then provided germ-free larvae with varying biotin doses and showed that males are sensitive to biotin toxicity at a lower concentration than females. Gnotobiotic larvae exposed to controlled low bacterial counts or with bacteria characterised by slower growth, show a male-enriched adult population, suggesting that males require less bacteria-derived nutrients than females. These findings indicate that during larval development, mosquitoes have sex-specific nutritional requirements and toxicity thresholds, which impact the sex ratio of adults., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval: This study was conducted in French Guiana, an outermost region of France. All authors except FB were based in French Guiana when participating to the research. None of the authors of this specific manuscript is originally from French Guiana, contrary to other publications of our laboratory. Our team is strongly involved in promoting science locally via outreach activities and training of local students., (© 2024. The Author(s).)
- Published
- 2024
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