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. 2018 Mar 25:2018:2472508.
doi: 10.1155/2018/2472508. eCollection 2018.

Second Blood Meal by Female Lutzomyia longipalpis: Enhancement by Oviposition and Its Effects on Digestion, Longevity, and Leishmania Infection

C S Moraes  1   2 , K Aguiar-Martins  2 , S G Costa  1   2 , P A Bates  2 , R J Dillon  2   3 , F A Genta  1   3
Affiliations

Second Blood Meal by Female Lutzomyia longipalpis: Enhancement by Oviposition and Its Effects on Digestion, Longevity, and Leishmania Infection

C S Moraes et al. Biomed Res Int. .

Abstract

Lutzomyia longipalpis is the main vector of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in America. Physiological and molecular mechanisms of Leishmania infection in sand flies have been studied during the first gonotrophic cycle. There are few studies about these interactions during the second gonotrophic cycle mainly because of the difficulties maintaining sand flies through sequential feeds. Here we standardized conditions to perform the second blood feed efficiently, and our results show that oviposition is an essential factor for the success of multiple feeds. We evaluated the impact of the second blood meal on longevity, protein digestion, trypsin activity, and Leishmania mexicana development within L. longipalpis gut. Mortality of blood-fed females increases after second blood meal as compared to sugar-fed females. Trypsin activity was lower during the second gonotrophic cycle. However, no difference in protein intake was observed between blood meals. There was no difference in the population size of Leishmania in the gut after both blood meals. In this work, we presented an optimized protocol for obtaining sufficient numbers of sand fly females fed on a second blood meal, and we described some physiological and parasitological aspects of the second gonotrophic cycle which might influence the vectorial competence of sand flies.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of oviposition on the second blood feed of female L. longipalpis. Females were blood-fed and separated into cages in presence or absence of an oviposition pot. Seven days after the first blood meal, a second blood feed was offered. Percentage of blood-fed females was evaluated after the first and second blood meal. BM: blood meal, ∗p < 0.05; ∗∗p < 0.01 (unpaired t-test).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of retained oocytes in female L. longipalpis. Females were blood-fed and the engorged ones separated in cages in presence or absence of an oviposition pot. Seven days after the first blood feed, a second blood meal was offered. Immediately after the second blood feed, all females (fed and unfed) were dissected to estimate oocytes within the ovaries. ∗p < 0.05 (unpaired t-test).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Survival curve of L. longipalpis females after (a) first and (b) second blood feed. Lines in (a) represent sugar-fed (black) and blood-fed (blue). Lines in (b) represent blood-fed once with four-day-old females (blue), blood-fed once with 11-day-old females (red), blood-fed twice (at 4 and 11 days after emergence, green), and sugar-fed only (black).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Trypsin activity (a) and quantification of protein (b) in control (white bar) and Leishmania-infected (black bar) L. longipalpis females. Females were infected with L. mexicana parasites in the first blood feed and fed with blood only in the second blood feed. Asterisk indicates statistical differences between first and second blood feeding and hashtag indicates statistical differences between infected and uninfected groups. S: sugar-fed; BBF: before blood feed.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Population estimates of Leishmania mexicana promastigotes in the gut of L. longipalpis females after the first and second blood feed. Females were infected with parasites in the first blood feeding and fed only with blood in the second blood feeding. Red circle denotes heavily infected insects after the second blood feed.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Light microscopy image of infected gut (a) and cardia after second blood feed in infected (b) and uninfected (c) sand flies. Females were infected with L. mexicana parasites in the first blood feeding and fed only with blood in the second blood feed. Note gut epithelium (arrowhead) and Leishmania parasites (arrows). GL: gut lumen. Magnification 100x.
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