Functional analysis of the effects of mating on Aedes aegypti female immunity

Monday, November 14, 2022

8:36 AM – 8:48 AM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 205

Presenting Author(s)

BK

Brendan J. Kelly

Graduate Student
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

Co-Author(s)

Dominique Magistrado (she/her/hers)

Graduate Student
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
SS

Sarah M. Short

Assistant Professor
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

Mating induces profound physiological changes in female insects. These physiological shifts lead to both increased and decreased immune capacity in different insect systems. In blood feeding arthropods like mosquitoes, the process of reproduction is decoupled into both mating and blood feeding, making the physiological signaling of reproduction and potential effects on immunity more complex. We recently investigated the effects of mating and blood feeding on the antibacterial immunity of Aedes aegypti females. We found that mating improved female survival following infection, but only in non-blood fed females. Blood feeding reduced female survival regardless of mating status. As mortality was largely concentrated within the first day, we repeated the study, sampling over the first 24 hours post infection. We found no significant difference in survival between mated and virgin females in either blood feeding status. Consistent with the first experiment, blood feeding again reduced survival for both mated and virgin females. We are currently in the process of analyzing bacterial load data from both experiments. As the dosing in this experiment appears lower than in our original experiment, we are repeating the 24-hour time course with two doses to assess whether the effect of mating observed previously is dose dependent. Additionally, we have begun measuring transcript levels of critical immune genes, such as antimicrobial peptides, to elucidate possible mechanisms for this mating effect on immunity. We expect that investigating differences in the transcript levels of these genes may help to identify molecular signaling pathways involved in mediating mating-induced immune enhancement.