Abstract
The establishment of Aedes aegypti and the recent invasion of Aedes albopictus has put Colombia at risk, as it now harbours two arboviral vector species. Studies have shown the susceptibility of Aedes aegypti to the vegetative toxins produced by Lysinibacillus sphaericus. This study aims to determine the potential of two L. sphaericus strains in the control of both Aedes species present in Colombia, in both single and mixed species nurseries. Given the similarities between both species, there exists a need to differentiate them for the development of precise control strategies. Accordingly, mixed nurseries employed a red fluorescent protein (mRFP)-expressing Escherichia coli strain as a differentiator. Coloration-aided differentiation facilitated the analysis of mixed nursery treatments and provided deeper scrutiny into the variables at play. This showed an increase in the biocontrol efficiency, pointing to probable ecological variables. Bioassays involving Ae. albopictus showed a lower resistance to the one reported for Ae. aegypti in single-species nurseries. The study concludes that the use of E. coli strains expressing fluorescent proteins are useful tools to be employed in areas like public health entomology. Moreover, it was found that the use of L. sphaericus strains for biocontrol of vector mosquitoes is a viable alternative to chemical insecticides.
Highlights
Dengue viruses (DENVs) are among the most common arboviral diseases currently affecting humankind, causing between 100 and 400 million infections every year [1]
Delecluse from the Pasteur Institute in France. This bacterial mixture was selected as these strains have shown the most lethality in Ae. aegypti mosquitoes among the L. sphaericus strains present in the CIMIC collection, having a Lethal Dose 50 (LD50) concentration of 107 colony-forming units per millilitre (CFU/mL) [40,51,52]
The reference Ae. albopictus strain was susceptible to the vegetative cells of the L. sphaericus strains employed, which further establishes the mosquitocidal activity of this bacterium
Summary
Dengue viruses (DENVs) are among the most common arboviral diseases currently affecting humankind, causing between 100 and 400 million infections every year [1]. In Colombia, the transmission of DENVs relies mainly on the vector Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762), but it has been shown that Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894) plays an important role as a secondary vector This comes as no surprise, as Aedes mosquitoes have had a long coevolutionary history transmitting DENVs, which has made them into ideal vectors for these and other arboviral diseases [6]. This is not the only shared trait between these mosquito species, as they are practicably indistinguishable from one another during their larval stages, aside from minimal cuticle differences that do not manifest until the last larval instar [7]. Given the organisms’ developmental speed, it is difficult to implement control projects within an adequate time frame
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