Abstract
Understanding how mosquito vectors and malaria parasites interact is of fundamental interest, and it also offers novel perspectives for disease control. Both the genetic and environmental contexts are known to affect the ability of mosquitoes to support malaria development and transmission, i.e., vector competence. Although the role of environment has long been recognized, much work has focused on host and parasite genetic effects. However, the last few years have seen a surge of studies revealing a great diversity of ways in which non-genetic factors can interfere with mosquito-Plasmodium interactions. Here, we review the current evidence for such environmentally mediated effects, including ambient temperature, mosquito diet, microbial gut flora, and infection history, and we identify additional factors previously overlooked in mosquito-Plasmodium interactions. We also discuss epidemiological implications, and the evolutionary consequences for vector immunity and parasite transmission strategies. Finally, we propose directions for further research and argue that an improved knowledge of non-genetic influences on mosquito-Plasmodium interactions could aid in implementing conventional malaria control measures and contribute to the design of novel strategies.
Highlights
Despite ongoing control efforts, malaria remains one of the most devastating infectious diseases worldwide
Intensive genetic, molecular, cellular, and physiological studies have been undertaken in recent years to investigate the mosquito immune response to malaria
The primary scope of this review is to provide an up-to-date appraisal on the various ways in which these non-genetic factors influence vector competence for malaria parasites
Summary
Malaria remains one of the most devastating infectious diseases worldwide. Both bacterial abundance and diversity appear to play a role, with high bacterial loads and specific bacterial isolates associated with compromised Plasmodium early development [50,51,52] (Table 1). Our understanding of microbiota-mosquito-Plasmodium interactions is still limited, and more studies are required to determine the extent to which natural resident microbial flora of vectors contributes to competence for malaria parasites In addition to their gut bacteria, mosquitoes harbor a wide range of organisms which may impact Plasmodium development. Co-infection by multiple species of malaria parasites has been reported [57], but the conse-
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