Blocking the evolution of insecticide-resistant malaria vectors with a microsporidian

Finding a way to block the evolution insecticide-resistance would be a major breakthrough for the control of malaria. We suggest that this may be possible by introducing a stress into mosquito populations that restores the sensitivity of genetically resistant mosquitoes and that decreases their longevity when they are not exposed to insecticide. We use a mathematical model to show that, despite the intense selection pressure imposed by insecticides, moderate levels of stress might tip the evolutionary balance between costs and benefits of resistance towards maintaining sensitivity. Our experimental work with the microsporidian parasite Vavraia culicis infecting two lines of resistant mosquitoes and a sensitive line suggests that it may indeed be possible to stress the mosquitoes in the required way. The mortality of resistant mosquitoes 24h after exposure to the insecticide was up to 8.8 times higher in infected than in uninfected ones; if mosquitoes were not exposed to the insecticide,...

找到阻断杀虫剂抗性演化的方法，将成为疟疾防控领域的一项重大突破。我们提出，可通过向蚊虫种群施加胁迫实现这一目标：该胁迫能够恢复基因抗性蚊虫的杀虫剂敏感性，且在蚊虫未接触杀虫剂时缩短其寿命。我们借助数学模型证明，即便杀虫剂施加了极强的选择压力，适度的胁迫仍可扭转抗性演化的成本与收益间的进化平衡，使种群倾向于维持敏感性。我们以感染瓦氏微孢子虫（Vavraia culicis）的两种抗性蚊虫品系及一种敏感蚊虫品系为对象开展实验研究，结果表明，以所需方式对蚊虫施加胁迫确实具备可行性。接触杀虫剂24小时后，感染组抗性蚊虫的死亡率最高可达未感染组的8.8倍；若蚊虫未接触杀虫剂，……