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Title: Warmer environmental temperature accelerates aging in mosquitoes, decreasing longevity and worsening infection outcomes
Abstract BackgroundMost insects are poikilotherms and ectotherms, so their body temperature is predicated by environmental temperature. With climate change, insect body temperature is rising, which affects how insects develop, survive, and respond to infection. Aging also affects insect physiology by deteriorating body condition and weakening immune proficiency via senescence. Aging is usually considered in terms of time, or chronological age, but it can also be conceptualized in terms of body function, or physiological age. We hypothesized that warmer temperature decouples chronological and physiological age in insects by accelerating senescence. To investigate this, we reared the African malaria mosquito,Anopheles gambiae, at 27 °C, 30 °C and 32 °C, and measured survival starting at 1-, 5-, 10- and 15-days of adulthood after no manipulation, injury, or a hemocoelic infection withEscherichia coliorMicrococcus luteus. Then, we measured the intensity of anE. coliinfection to determine how the interaction between environmental temperature and aging shapes a mosquito’s response to infection. ResultsWe demonstrate that longevity declines when a mosquito is infected with bacteria, mosquitoes have shorter lifespans when the temperature is warmer, older mosquitoes are more likely to die, and warmer temperature marginally accelerates the aging-dependent decline in survival. Furthermore, we discovered thatE. coliinfection intensity increases when the temperature is warmer and with aging, and that warmer temperature accelerates the aging-dependent increase in infection intensity. Finally, we uncovered that warmer temperature affects both bacterial and mosquito physiology. ConclusionsWarmer environmental temperature accelerates aging in mosquitoes, negatively affecting both longevity and infection outcomes. These findings have implications for how insects will serve as pollinators, agricultural pests, and disease vectors in our warming world.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1936843
PAR ID:
10541326
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Springer Science + Business Media
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Immunity & Ageing
Volume:
21
Issue:
1
ISSN:
1742-4933
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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