Composition of Human Skin Microbiota Affects Attractiveness to Malaria Mosquitoes

The African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto continues to play an important role in malaria transmission, which is aggravated by its high degree of anthropophily, making it among the foremost vectors of this disease. In the current study we set out to unravel the strong association between this mosquito species and human beings, as it is determined by odorant cues derived from the human skin. Microbial communities on the skin play key roles in the production of human body odour. We demonstrate that the composition of the skin microbiota affects the degree of attractiveness of human beings to this mosquito species. Bacterial plate counts and 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that individuals that are highly attractive to An. gambiae s.s. have a significantly higher abundance, but lower diversity of bacteria on their skin than individuals that are poorly attractive. Bacterial genera that are correlated with the relative degree of attractiveness to mosquitoes were identified. The discovery of the connection between skin microbial populations and attractiveness to mosquitoes may lead to the development of new mosquito attractants and personalized methods for protection against vectors of malaria and other infectious diseases.

传疟媒介狭义冈比亚按蚊（Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto）在疟疾传播中仍占据重要地位，其高度嗜人的习性进一步加剧了疟疾传播，使其成为该疾病最主要的传播媒介之一。本研究旨在阐明该蚊种与人类之间的紧密关联——这种关联由人体皮肤释放的气味线索所介导。皮肤微生物群落（skin microbiota）在人体体味的生成过程中发挥关键作用。本研究证实，皮肤微生物群落的组成会影响人类对该蚊种的吸引程度。研究通过细菌平板计数与16S rRNA测序发现，与对该蚊种吸引力较低的个体相比，高吸引力个体的皮肤细菌丰度显著更高，但细菌多样性更低。研究还鉴定出了与蚊虫相对吸引程度相关的细菌属。此项关于皮肤微生物群落与蚊虫吸引力之间关联的发现，有望推动新型蚊虫引诱剂的研发，以及用于防控疟疾及其他传染病传播媒介的个性化防护策略的开发。