title: Infection of laboratory-colonized Anopheles darlingi mosquitoes by Plasmodium vivax.
abstract: Anopheles darlingi Root is the most important malaria vector in the Amazonia region of South America. However, continuous propagation of An. darlingi in the laboratory has been elusive, limiting entomological, genetic/genomic, and vector-pathogen interaction studies of this mosquito species. Here, we report the establishment of an An. darlingi colony derived from wild-caught mosquitoes obtained in the northeastern Peruvian Amazon region of Iquitos in the Loreto Department. We show that the numbers of eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults continue to rise at least to the F6 generation. Comparison of feeding Plasmodium vivax ex vivo of F4 and F5 to F1 generation mosquitoes showed the comparable presence of oocysts and sporozoites, with numbers that corresponded to blood-stage asexual parasitemia and gametocytemia, confirming P. vivax vectorial capacity in the colonized mosquitoes. These results provide new avenues for research on An. darlingi biology and study of An. darlingi-Plasmodium interactions.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Mitchel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guzmán
authors.forename: Raul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chuquiyauri
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Llanos-Cuentas
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Dionicia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gamboa
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meister
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Winzeler
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maguina
authors.forename: Jan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Conn
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Vinetz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology*; D007756:Laboratory Animal Science / Q000379:methods; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000635:transmission*; D008297:Male; D033661:Oocysts; D010966:Plasmodium vivax; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D034101:Sporozoites