Copulation Activity, Sperm Production and Conidia Transfer in @entity4224 Males Contaminated by XXXX : A Biological Control Prospect.

@entity4224 @entity66 @entity20703 @entity364 @entity926
BACKGROUND: Dengue is the most prevalent @entity66 transmitted by @entity4224 worldwide, whose chemical control is difficult, expensive, and of inconsistent efficacy. Releases of @entity20703 -exposed Ae. aegypti males to disseminate conidia among female mosquitoes by mating represents a promising biological control approach against this important vector. A better understanding of fungus virulence and impact on reproductive parameters of Ae. aegypti, is need before testing auto-dissemination strategies. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Mortality, mating competitiveness, sperm production, and the capacity to auto-disseminate the fungus to females up to the 5thcopulation, were compared between @entity4224 males exposed to 5.96 x 107 conidia per cm2 of @entity20703 and uninfected males. Half (50%) of fungus-exposed males (FEMs) died within the first 4 days @entity926 ( @entity926 ). FEMs required 34% more time to successively copulate with 5 females (165    3 minutes) than uninfected males (109    3 minutes). Additionally, @entity364 reduced the sperm production by 87% at 5 days @entity926 . Some beneficial impacts were observed, FEMs were able to successfully compete with uninfected males in cages, inseminating an equivalent number of females (about 25%). Under semi-field conditions, the ability of FEMs to search for and inseminate females was also equivalent to uninfected males (both inseminating about 40% females); but for the remaining females that were not inseminated, evidence of tarsal contact (transfer of fluorescent dust) was significantly greater in FEMs compared to controls. The estimated conidia load of a female exposed on the 5th copulation was 5,200 mL-1 which was sufficient to cause mortality. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study is the first to demonstrate auto-dissemination of @entity20703 through transfer of fungus from males to female Ae. aegypti during mating under semi-field conditions. Our results suggest that auto-dissemination studies using releases of FEMs inside households could successfully infect wild Ae. aegypti females, providing another viable biological control tool for this important the dengue vector.
