Understanding the roles of pathogen infection and sensory cue integration in mosquito blood-feeding behavior

Project Information

PiQiMosqBite

Grant agreement ID: 841893

DOI

10.3030/841893

Project terminated on 30 September 2021

EC signature date 5 April 2019

Start date 1 October 2019

End date 7 November 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 196 707,84

EU contribution

€ 196 707,84

Coordinated by

INSTITUT PASTEUR
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PiQiMosqBite (Understanding the roles of pathogen infection and sensory cue integration in mosquito blood-feeding behavior)

Reporting period: 2019-10-01 to 2021-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Mosquitoes serve as vectors for diseases including dengue and malaria, for which half the world's population is at risk. Mosquito-borne pathogens are transmitted during blood feeding, yet despite its crucial role in pathogen transmission, blood feeding behavior remains ill understood. It is for instance unclear how pathogen infections affect blood feeding, nor is it understood how cues on the skin surface influence biting behavior. These knowledge gaps are partly due to a lack of tools to study blood feeding behavior.
PiQiMosqBite addressed this challenge by leveraging quantitative imaging, computer vision, and an engineered human skin mimic to create the 'biteOscope' — a high-throughput assay to characterize blood feeding behavior. The biteOscope enables the detailed characterization of the behavioral trajectory leading to blood feeding. Using the biteOscope, PiQiMosqBite unraveled the mode of action of a common insect repellent, and investigated how mosquitoes detect blood. A separate line of inquiry serves as the basis to use the biteOscope as a tool to characterize the impact of pathogen infections on blood feeding behavior.
The tools developed in PiQiMosqBite were shared open access and quickly gained traction in the mosquito research community. In addition to the scientific insights gained in PiQiMosqBite, the open access availability of these tools holds the potential to drive mosquito research forward.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

New assays and experimental techniques are necessary to better understand mosquito blood feeding behavior. To this end, PiQiMosqBite developed the biteOscope, an open platform that allows the high-resolution and high-throughput characterization of surface exploration, probing, and engorgement by blood-feeding mosquitoes (Hol et al., eLife, 2020, Murray et al., arXiv, 2021). In addition to hardware components (mosquito environments, imaging setup), I developed a suite of computational tools that automates the extraction of behavioral statistics from video data. The biteOscope was used to describe behavioral patterns of the two main vectors of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya virus (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus), and two important malaria vectors (Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles stephensi). In addition to characterizing behavioral patterns, we discovered that the common insect repellent DEET repels Anopheles coluzzii upon contact with their legs (Hol et al., eLife, 2020), and characterized how Ae. aegypti detect blood (Jové, et al, Neuron, 2020). Footage from the biteOscope was selected as part of the FIGURE1.A exhibition in Lausanne (Switzerland), reaching a public at the art-science interface.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

PiQiMosqBite addressed a key challenge in mosquito research: How should we quantify mosquito biting behavior? The tool developed to address this question was made available in an open access fashion and is currently being implemented in several mosquito labs across the planet. By creating open and affordable technology, PiQiMosqBite will continue to have impact on the mosquito research community. The insights gained using the biteOscope may inspire novel ways to combat the spread of mosquito-borne pathogens, or inform vector control strategies. As such PiQiMosqBite holds the potential to have a lasting impact on the societal burden of mosquito-borne pathogens.

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