Research uses the sweet secrets of plant nectar to bite mosquito spread disease

In a study published in Scientific Reports, researchers at Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, working with partners in Africa and the UK, present new plant host identification methods that can help reduce the infection of infectious diseases such as malaria by limiting the food sources of preferred plants in mosquitoes.

Professor Phil Stevenson, a priority leader in RBG queue characteristics, said, “Mosquitoes are some of the deadliest animals on the planet as they transmit many dangerous and fatal diseases, including malaria. Infection; infection.”

This study shows that mosquitoes prefer to eat sugar from certain plant species, and the abundance of these plants in disease-prone areas indicates that mosquito populations are high and infection rates are high. Scientists believe that identifying and removing these plants from the landscape will help reduce the rate of transmission of disease.

According to the World Health Organization, malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and are caused by female mosquitoes carrying parasites that feed human blood. Furthermore, current interventions of bednets and spray pesticides are beginning to fail in their effectiveness.

What is needed is that new approaches to reduce mosquito populations and change the sugar sources of habitats during disease outbreaks may prove to be a successful intervention.

Dr. Amanda Cooper, a postdoctoral researcher at the Royal Botanical Gardens, said, “Mosquito-borne diseases continue to challenge public health groups across the tropical regions of the world. The main methods currently used to combat mosquito-borne diseases, indoor pesticide application and bednets are increasing mosquito-resistant.

“Therefore, these new interventions to combat mosquito-borne diseases are desperately needed. We hope this work will be the beginning of finding new and effective interventions.”

The authors of this study analyzed the chemistry of nectar in plants known to be used as a source of sugar by mosquitoes in areas where malaria transfusions are valuable. They then identified unique metabolites from mosquito nectar for more than 8 hours after feeding, revealing what plants they were eating.

This can be done through DNA barcoding (by analyzing the DNA of ingested plant material), but extracting sufficient plant DNA from insects that eat small nectar can be difficult.

Instead, Kew scientists focused on nectar metabolites. This provides unique chemical properties that can be used to distinguish between different sources of plant sugars.

Three candidate species for this study were selected from the vast living collection of Kew Gardens in western London. These were yellow sage (Lantana camera), castor oil plants (Lisinus communis), and yellow oleander (Cascabella zavetia). All of these are spread throughout the tropical region.

The Kew team hopes to use new approaches to screen plants in areas where mosquito disease is prevalent, understand mosquito ecology and plant preferences, remove those plants from nearby homes and help reduce the overall mosquito population.

Professor Stevenson said, “In this work we have developed a way to identify which flowering plants mosquitoes prefer, so that they can be removed from close to people’s homes, and that mosquito abundance and their transmission of diseases in the vector.

“We believe this can also be used to understand and influence the transmission dynamics of other important mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue, Zika virus, and West Nile virus.”

Such studies are of great importance as infectious tropical diseases affect hundreds of millions of people around the world each year. In 2022 alone, the World Health Organization estimated that around 249 million people had been infected with malaria, with 608,000 deaths reported in 85 countries.

Malaria, which is primarily found in the tropical regions, is caused by protist parasites carried by mosquitoes and can be completely prevented by mosquito bites and taking medications.

This study is part of a wide range of work programmes in Cues, aiming to better understand the relationships between plants and invertebrates, especially insects that feed flowers, such as honeybees and other pollinators and small insects. Researchers are also keen to understand the role of nectar metabolites and how they affect animals.

Dr. Cooper adds, “The only way to reduce the impact of mosquito-borne diseases is a necessary solution that may involve new pathways targeting mosquito vectors and interventions through known host plants.”