Role of nutrition in initiation and promotion of ovarian development in the Japanese house mosquito, Culex pipiens pallens

Abstract

The fertility of mosquitoes largely depends on a blood meal taken from host animals or humans. After feeding, the blood proteins are digested in the midgut to amino acids, which are then transferred into the hemolymph. Although absorbed amino acids are utilized as precursors for vitellogenin synthesis, these nutrients have other important effects upon mosquito oogenesis. First, the increase of amino acid concentration in the hemolymph after a blood meal may initiate and promote follicular development. For this activity, it is essential that amino acids increase in a balanced composition; lack of any one of the nutritionally-essential amino acids fails to initiate the development of follicles. Second, the number of follicles which are able to mature depends largely on the amount of available amino acids in terms of either concentration in the hemolymph or length of supply from the midgut. During a number of evolutionary steps, mosquitoes seem to have acquired a system to monitor available amino acids for efficient oogenesis.