Romanomermis culicivorax parasitism and the development, growth, and feeding rates of two mosquito species

Revisiting genomes of non-model species with long reads yields new insights into their biology and evolution

High-quality genomes obtained using long-read data allow not only for a better understanding of heterozygosity levels, repeat content, and more accurate gene annotation and prediction when compared to those obtained with short-read technologies, but also allow to understand haplotype divergence. Advances in long-read sequencing technologies in the last years have made it possible to produce such high-quality assemblies for non-model organisms. This allows us to revisit genomes, which have been problematic to scaffold to chromosome-scale with previous generations of data and assembly software. Nematoda, one of the most diverse and speciose animal phyla within metazoans, remains poorly studied, and many previously assembled genomes are fragmented. Using long reads obtained with Nanopore R10.4.1 and PacBio HiFi, we generated highly contiguous assemblies of a diploid nematode of the Mermithidae family, for which no closely related genomes are available to date, as well as a collapsed assembly and a phased assembly for a triploid nematode from the Panagrolaimidae family. Both genomes had been analysed before, but the fragmented assemblies had scaffold sizes comparable to the length of long reads prior to assembly. Our new assemblies illustrate how long-read technologies allow for a much better representation of species genomes. We are now able to conduct more accurate downstream assays based on more complete gene and transposable element predictions.

Behavior of Aedes albifasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae from eggs with different dormancy times and its relationship with parasitism by Strelkovimermis spiculatus (Nematoda: Mermithidae)

Aedine mosquitoes go through unfavorable periods as dormant eggs. However, extended dormancy times lead to a depletion of egg reserves, which might be partially compensated by changes in larval-feeding behavior. Changes in larval behavior may also be induced by parasitism by mermithids probably as a strategy to reduce the impact of the parasite on the host. The most abundant floodwater mosquito in southern South America is Aedes albifasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae), a species naturally parasitized by Strelkovimermis spiculatus (Nematoda: Mermithidae). This study aimed to evaluate the behavior of fourth-instar larvae of Ae. albifasciatus from eggs with 2, 4, and 6 months of dormancy, parasitized or not by S. spiculatus. To achieve this, eight categories of behavior were defined, and then, each individual was observed for 5 min, and its behaviors and their duration were recorded. The behaviors with the highest percentage of observation time were still (50.1%) and wriggle swimming (33.6%), while those with the lowest percentage of observation time were those involving active foraging (less than 8%). A great variability in the behaviors was observed among individuals within the same treatment. The type and duration of each behavior did not vary in relation to egg dormancy time or parasitism, but parasitism affected the level of larval activity. Parasitized larvae performed, on average, fewer behaviors than non-parasitized larvae. This result supports the hypothesis that S. spiculatus parasitism affects the behavior of Ae. albifasciatus larvae by reducing their level of activity.

Effects of insect growth regulators on the mosquito-parasitic nematode Romanomermis iyengari

Pyriproxyfen, a juvenile hormone analogue, diflubenzuron, a chitin synthesis inhibitor, and azadirachtin, an ecdysone agonist, are three insect growth regulators (IGRs) considered as selective and effective insecticides for mosquitoes. Romanomermis iyengari (Welch) is a mosquito-parasitic mermithid that can provide biological control against many medically important mosquito species. The compatibility of these two control tactics was tested by evaluating the sublethal effects of exposure to IGR on nematode developmental stages (preparasitic, parasitic, and preparasitic + parasitic) using Culex pipiens larvae as the host. Sublethal concentrations of IGRs were 90 % emergence inhibition of host mosquito. Preparasitic exposure to pyriproxyfen, azadirachtin, and diflurbenzuron had no effect on infectivity, parasite load, sex ratio, or male size but reduced nematode female length and increased male sex ratio at one parasite/larva. When IGRs treatments were made against the parasitic and preparasitic + parasitic stages, pyriproxyfen and azadirachtin reduced R. iyengari infectivity, parasite load, and male nematode length, whereas pyriproxyfen exposure increased male sex ratio and reduced the female R. iyengari length. Thus, IGRs have significant negative impacts on different stages of mosquito mermithid that can destabilize the balance of host-parasite population interaction. Therefore, IGRs should be used with caution in mosquito habitats where these parasites have established.

Parasitoid-induced behavioral alterations of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae infected with mermithid nematodes (Nematoda: Mermithidae)

A wide range of parasites are known to cause behavioral changes in their hosts and parasitized insects are especially amenable to the study of such changes. The majority of studies addressing parasite-induced behavioral alterations have focused on parasites with complex life cycles and the adaptive nature of such changes. Behavioral changes caused by parasitoids, single-host parasites that kill their host upon emergence, have been studied less and the adaptive nature of these changes is likely to be different than those in complex life cycles. I investigated behavioral alterations in Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae infected with parasitoid nematodes (family Mermithidae). I conducted several experiments in which I tested the following hypotheses: 1) Mermithid nematodes induce behavioral changes in mosquito larvae and the changes are density dependent. 2) Different species of mermithid nematodes induce similar changes in mosquito larvae behavior. 3) Behavioral alterations vary with mermithid developmental stage. 4) Mosquito larvae infected with mermithid nematodes behave similarly to uninfected food-deprived mosquito larvae. I found that 4th instar Ae. aegypti infected with Romanomermis culicivorax or Strelkovimermis spiculatus exhibited resting behaviors significantly more often than uninfected controls but that intensity of infection did not affect activity levels. In earlier instars, infected mosquito larvae were more active than uninfected control larvae in some behaviors associated with feeding. There was no significant difference between infected and uninfected food-deprived mosquitoes in nine of the ten behaviors observed. The decrease in activity of late instar Ae. aegypti larvae infected with mermithids may be a parasitoid adaptation that reduces the risk of predation and thus increases host and parasitoid survival. The increase in feeding activity in earlier instars as well as the similarity between uninfected food-deprived and infected Ae. aegypti behavior may indicate that these behaviors are adaptive for the parasitoid, increasing nutritional acquisition for successful parasitoid development.

The effect of the mermithid parasite Gasteromermis sp. (Nematoda: Mermithidae) on the drift behaviour of its mayfly host, Baetis bicaudatus (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae): a trade-off between avoiding predators and locating food

This study reports alterations in the drift behaviour of mayfly nymphs (Baetis bicaudatus) infected with the mermithid nematode parasite Gasteromermis sp. with respect to (i) their exposure to drift-feeding trout predators and (ii) the efficiency with which they locate food. Experimental stream channels and benthic and drift samples were combined to investigate drift behaviour. The drift behaviour of earlier instars did not differ between parasitized and unparasitized nymphs. Infected late-instar nymphs, however, drifted less frequently, drifted higher in the water column, and swam more frequently while drifting. Neither drift distances nor body angle while drifting were altered. Parasitized nymphs showed a reduction in food-location success in heterogeneous stream channels. The drift alterations therefore reduce both the exposure of the host to fish predators and the efficiency with which it locates food. The mayfly population is effectively divided into two groups: unparasitized nymphs (in which drift behaviour is of consequence to mayfly fecundity) and parasitized nymphs (in which drift behaviour is of consequence to mermithid survival and fecundity). It is suggested that locating food may be less important to the parasite, while the risk of trout predation may be higher for drifting parasitized individuals. Both of these factors would favour the parasite influencing its host to adopt lower drift frequencies.