Description of an automatic copulation induction system used to establish a free-mating laboratory colony of Nyssorhynchus deaneorum from Brazil

BACKGROUND Nyssorhynchus deaneorum is a potential malaria vector because it has been shown to be competent to transmit Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum, and because it exhibits antropophilic and endophilic behaviors in some regions of the Amazon. This profile makes Ny. deaneorum a useful mosquito for experiments that model Plasmodium-vector interactions in the Amazon. OBJECTIVE Herein we describe how a free-mating colony of Ny. deaneorum has been established using an automated light stimulation system. METHODS Mosquitoes were captured in São Francisco do Guaporé, Rondônia. The F1 generation was reared until adult emergence at which point copulation was induced using an automatic copulation induction system (ACIS). FINDINGS After four generations, natural mating and oviposition began to occur without light stimulation. The number of pupae and adult mosquitoes increased from the F5 to F10 generations. The new Ny. deaneorum colony exhibited susceptibility to P. vivax. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Automated light stimulation is an effective method for establishing an Ny. deaneorum colony under laboratory conditions as it produces enough adults to create a stenogamic colony. The establishment of a stable, P. vivax-susceptible colony of Ny. deaneorum makes it possible to model parasite-vector interactions and to test novel drug therapies that target parasite development in mosquitoes.

【背景】迪氏按蚊（Nyssorhynchus deaneorum）是一种潜在的疟疾传播媒介：已有研究证实其具备传播间日疟原虫（Plasmodium vivax）与恶性疟原虫（Plasmodium falciparum）的能力，且在亚马逊流域部分区域表现出嗜人血与家栖的行为特性。该生物学特性使得迪氏按蚊成为模拟亚马逊区域疟原虫-媒介互作实验的优质蚊虫模型。
【研究目的】本文详述了借助自动化光刺激系统构建迪氏按蚊（Ny. deaneorum）自由交配种群的方法。
【研究方法】研究样本采集自巴西朗多尼亚州瓜波雷河畔圣弗朗西斯科地区。将F1代蚊虫饲养至成虫羽化阶段，随后利用自动交配诱导系统（ACIS）诱导其交配行为。
【研究结果】传至第4代时，无需额外光刺激即可自然发生交配与产卵行为；F5至F10代的蛹与成虫数量呈逐步上升趋势；新建的迪氏按蚊种群对间日疟原虫（P. vivax）表现出易感性。
【主要结论】自动化光刺激是实验室条件下构建迪氏按蚊种群的有效手段，可获得足够成虫以建立室内群养种群（stenogamic colony）。成功构建稳定且对间日疟原虫易感的迪氏按蚊种群，可为疟原虫-媒介互作模拟实验以及靶向蚊虫体内疟原虫发育的新型药物疗法测试提供可行支撑。