Competition matters: using in vitro community models to study the impact of human skin bacteria on mosquito attraction
The human skin bacteria play an important role in the production of volatiles that attract mosquitoes. Using some of the most abundant human skin bacterial species, we created in vitro community models to assess whether increased microbial biodiversity could reduce human attractiveness to females of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1156311/full |
| _version_ | 1797820551652179968 |
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| author | Dani Lucas-Barbosa Dani Lucas-Barbosa Carlijn Balvers Anthony J. Bellantuono John S. Castillo André L. Costa-da-Silva Consuelo M. De Moraes Matthew DeGennaro Niels O. Verhulst |
| author_facet | Dani Lucas-Barbosa Dani Lucas-Barbosa Carlijn Balvers Anthony J. Bellantuono John S. Castillo André L. Costa-da-Silva Consuelo M. De Moraes Matthew DeGennaro Niels O. Verhulst |
| author_sort | Dani Lucas-Barbosa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The human skin bacteria play an important role in the production of volatiles that attract mosquitoes. Using some of the most abundant human skin bacterial species, we created in vitro community models to assess whether increased microbial biodiversity could reduce human attractiveness to females of the dengue fever mosquito Aedes aegypti and whether co-culturing bacterial commensals affects overall attraction. More complex bacterial models were less attractive to female mosquitoes than the simplest models. For instance, the triple bacterial community model was approximately three times less attractive than Staphylococcus epidermidis alone. Our data show, for instance, that an in vitro community model mimicking the skin composition of a highly attractive individual to the anthropophilic Anopheles gambiae was also more attractive to anthropophilic Ae. aegypti than a community model mimicking the skin composition of a poorly attractive individual to An. gambiae. In line with these results, volatile analyses of the blends emitted by the different in vitro community models showed that the more complex models had lower emission overall. Effects on mosquito responses differed sharply when the different bacteria species were sharing the same resources used for growth, showing that either competition or commensalism may influence their relative growth, and that this consequently can influence mosquito responses. We conclude that studies on mosquito responses to skin volatiles need to take the microbial community into account. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:40:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fa67fac3822b437a82df9853be3669d8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:40:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-fa67fac3822b437a82df9853be3669d82023-05-25T04:37:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2023-05-011110.3389/fevo.2023.11563111156311Competition matters: using in vitro community models to study the impact of human skin bacteria on mosquito attractionDani Lucas-Barbosa0Dani Lucas-Barbosa1Carlijn Balvers2Anthony J. Bellantuono3John S. Castillo4André L. Costa-da-Silva5Consuelo M. De Moraes6Matthew DeGennaro7Niels O. Verhulst8Vetsuisse and Medical Faculty, National Centre for Vector Entomology, Institute of Parasitology, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandResearch Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, SwitzerlandVetsuisse and Medical Faculty, National Centre for Vector Entomology, Institute of Parasitology, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Sciences Institute, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesDepartment of Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Sciences Institute, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesDepartment of Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Sciences Institute, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesDepartment of Environmental System Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Sciences Institute, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesVetsuisse and Medical Faculty, National Centre for Vector Entomology, Institute of Parasitology, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandThe human skin bacteria play an important role in the production of volatiles that attract mosquitoes. Using some of the most abundant human skin bacterial species, we created in vitro community models to assess whether increased microbial biodiversity could reduce human attractiveness to females of the dengue fever mosquito Aedes aegypti and whether co-culturing bacterial commensals affects overall attraction. More complex bacterial models were less attractive to female mosquitoes than the simplest models. For instance, the triple bacterial community model was approximately three times less attractive than Staphylococcus epidermidis alone. Our data show, for instance, that an in vitro community model mimicking the skin composition of a highly attractive individual to the anthropophilic Anopheles gambiae was also more attractive to anthropophilic Ae. aegypti than a community model mimicking the skin composition of a poorly attractive individual to An. gambiae. In line with these results, volatile analyses of the blends emitted by the different in vitro community models showed that the more complex models had lower emission overall. Effects on mosquito responses differed sharply when the different bacteria species were sharing the same resources used for growth, showing that either competition or commensalism may influence their relative growth, and that this consequently can influence mosquito responses. We conclude that studies on mosquito responses to skin volatiles need to take the microbial community into account.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1156311/fullhuman skin bacteriaAedes (Ae.) aegyptiin vitro communitiesvolatilesmosquito |
| spellingShingle | Dani Lucas-Barbosa Dani Lucas-Barbosa Carlijn Balvers Anthony J. Bellantuono John S. Castillo André L. Costa-da-Silva Consuelo M. De Moraes Matthew DeGennaro Niels O. Verhulst Competition matters: using in vitro community models to study the impact of human skin bacteria on mosquito attraction Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution human skin bacteria Aedes (Ae.) aegypti in vitro communities volatiles mosquito |
| title | Competition matters: using in vitro community models to study the impact of human skin bacteria on mosquito attraction |
| title_full | Competition matters: using in vitro community models to study the impact of human skin bacteria on mosquito attraction |
| title_fullStr | Competition matters: using in vitro community models to study the impact of human skin bacteria on mosquito attraction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Competition matters: using in vitro community models to study the impact of human skin bacteria on mosquito attraction |
| title_short | Competition matters: using in vitro community models to study the impact of human skin bacteria on mosquito attraction |
| title_sort | competition matters using in vitro community models to study the impact of human skin bacteria on mosquito attraction |
| topic | human skin bacteria Aedes (Ae.) aegypti in vitro communities volatiles mosquito |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1156311/full |
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