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'Manipulation' without the parasite: altered feeding behaviour of mosquitoes is not dependent on infection with malaria parasites.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Cator, LJ; George, J; Blanford, S; Murdock, CC; Baker, TC; Read, AF; Thomas, MB
Published in: Proceedings. Biological sciences
July 2013

Previous studies have suggested that Plasmodium parasites can manipulate mosquito feeding behaviours such as probing, persistence and engorgement rate in order to enhance transmission success. Here, we broaden analysis of this 'manipulation phenotype' to consider proximate foraging behaviours, including responsiveness to host odours and host location. Using Anopheles stephensi and Plasmodium yoelii as a model system, we demonstrate that mosquitoes with early stage infections (i.e. non-infectious oocysts) exhibit reduced attraction to a human host, whereas those with late-stage infections (i.e. infectious sporozoites) exhibit increased attraction. These stage-specific changes in behaviour were paralleled by changes in the responsiveness of mosquito odourant receptors, providing a possible neurophysiological mechanism for the responses. However, we also found that both the behavioural and neurophysiological changes could be generated by immune challenge with heat-killed Escherichia coli and were thus not tied explicitly to the presence of malaria parasites. Our results support the hypothesis that the feeding behaviour of female mosquitoes is altered by Plasmodium, but question the extent to which this is owing to active manipulation by malaria parasites of host behaviour.

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Published In

Proceedings. Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2954

ISSN

0962-8452

Publication Date

July 2013

Volume

280

Issue

1763

Start / End Page

20130711

Related Subject Headings

  • Sporozoites
  • Plasmodium yoelii
  • Male
  • Malaria
  • Insect Vectors
  • Humans
  • Host-Parasite Interactions
  • Female
  • Feeding Behavior
  • Anopheles
 

Citation

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Cator, L. J., George, J., Blanford, S., Murdock, C. C., Baker, T. C., Read, A. F., & Thomas, M. B. (2013). 'Manipulation' without the parasite: altered feeding behaviour of mosquitoes is not dependent on infection with malaria parasites. Proceedings. Biological Sciences, 280(1763), 20130711. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0711
Cator, Lauren J., Justin George, Simon Blanford, Courtney C. Murdock, Thomas C. Baker, Andrew F. Read, and Matthew B. Thomas. “'Manipulation' without the parasite: altered feeding behaviour of mosquitoes is not dependent on infection with malaria parasites.Proceedings. Biological Sciences 280, no. 1763 (July 2013): 20130711. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0711.
Cator LJ, George J, Blanford S, Murdock CC, Baker TC, Read AF, et al. 'Manipulation' without the parasite: altered feeding behaviour of mosquitoes is not dependent on infection with malaria parasites. Proceedings Biological sciences. 2013 Jul;280(1763):20130711.
Cator, Lauren J., et al. “'Manipulation' without the parasite: altered feeding behaviour of mosquitoes is not dependent on infection with malaria parasites.Proceedings. Biological Sciences, vol. 280, no. 1763, July 2013, p. 20130711. Epmc, doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.0711.
Cator LJ, George J, Blanford S, Murdock CC, Baker TC, Read AF, Thomas MB. 'Manipulation' without the parasite: altered feeding behaviour of mosquitoes is not dependent on infection with malaria parasites. Proceedings Biological sciences. 2013 Jul;280(1763):20130711.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings. Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2954

ISSN

0962-8452

Publication Date

July 2013

Volume

280

Issue

1763

Start / End Page

20130711

Related Subject Headings

  • Sporozoites
  • Plasmodium yoelii
  • Male
  • Malaria
  • Insect Vectors
  • Humans
  • Host-Parasite Interactions
  • Female
  • Feeding Behavior
  • Anopheles