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Characterizations of Larval Gut Bacteria of Anopheles subpictus Grassi (1899) and their Role in Mosquito Development in Hooghly, West Bengal, India

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Abstract

Malaria is a serious vector borne disease transmitted by different species of Anopheles mosquitoes. The present study was aimed to isolate and characterize the bacterial flora from the gut of larvae of An. subpictus Grassi (1899) prevalent in Hooghly and explore their roles in host survival and development. Mosquito larvae and adults were collected from field and were maintained in laboratory. Bacterial load in the larval mid-gut was determined, and predominant strains were isolated and characterized by polyphasic approach. Role of these bacteria in larval survival and development were assayed. Bacterial load in the gut of larvae was found to vary in field-collected and lab-reared mosquitoes in different seasons. Morphological, bio-chemical, and molecular analyses explored four common bacterial isolates, namely Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus cereus, and Proteus vulgaris in the larval gut throughout the year. Larval survival rate was greatly reduced (0.06) and time of pupation was prolonged (17.8 ± 0.57) [days] in the absence of their gut bacteria. Total tissue protein (7.78 ± 0.56) [µg/mg], lipid (2.25 ± 0.19) [µg/mg] & carbohydrate (16.5 ± 0.79) [µg/mg] contents of larvae, and body weight & wing length of adult male (0.17 ± 0.02 & 1.74 ± 0.43) [mm] & female (0.19 ± 0.02 & 1.99 ± 0.46) [mm] mosquitoes were also found to be greatly reduced in the absence of gut bacteria. Developmental characteristics were restored with the introduction of culture suspension of all four resident gut bacterial isolates. Present study indicates that the mosquitoes largely depend on their gut bacteria for their survival and development. So, manipulation or control of this gut bacterial communities might inhibit survival and development of vector mosquitoes.

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Data Availability

Mosquitoes were collected by the authors along with the help of field collectors from rural areas of Hooghly, West Bengal, India. The data were collected from the experiments done by the authors in the Parasitology & Microbiology Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, The University of Burdwan.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Burdwan University authority for providing laboratory facilities to carry out the work. The authors are thankful to Zoological Survey of India for the identification of mosquito specimens. The authors are also thankful to University Grant Commission (UGC, India) and WBDSTBT, Govt. of West Bengal, for providing financial support. Authors are also very much thankful to DST PURSE, DST FIST for providing instrumental facilities.

Funding

This research was supported by funding from University Grant Commission, India, and WBDSTBT, Govt. of West Bengal.

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  1. Parasitology and Microbiology Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan, West Bengal, India

    Madhurima Seal & Soumendranath Chatterjee

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Author Madhurima Seal conducted all the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the first draft of manuscript. Author Soumendranath Chatterjee designed the work, supervised all the experiments conducted, revised, and edited the manuscript. Both the authors red and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Seal, M., Chatterjee, S. Characterizations of Larval Gut Bacteria of Anopheles subpictus Grassi (1899) and their Role in Mosquito Development in Hooghly, West Bengal, India. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 194, 6140–6163 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-021-03706-6

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