The microbiota affects energy production, nitrogen excretion, and sterol metabolism in mosquito larvae
Ottavia Romoli, Yanouk Epelboin, Viola Pavoncello, Frédéric Barras, Volker Behrends, Mathilde Gendrin · 2026
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Description
Ottavia Romoli and co-authors test what gut microbes do for mosquito larvae beyond handing over vitamins in 2026. Aedes aegypti larvae need living microbes to grow, so the team stripped the microbes away and profiled small molecules in larvae and dissected guts hours later.
Germ-free larvae showed sagging levels of energy cycle and nitrogen waste compounds, plus less gut cholesterol and altered long-chain fatty acids. Adding back a little cholesterol slightly improved survival to adulthood, while heavy doses harmed development. Larvae fed bacteria that cannot burn fatty acids also fared poorly. Microbes, the team concludes, underpin energy making, waste handling, and sterol balance, likely through the vitamins they supply.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Ottavia Romoli, Yanouk Epelboin, Viola Pavoncello, Frédéric Barras, Volker Behrends, Mathilde Gendrin |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 56713 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |