Energetic shifts predict the mortality of Anopheles gambiae
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Life history theory predicts that resource allocation adapts to ecological and evolutionary pressures. We investigated resource and energy dynamics in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae after exposure to two stressors: blood meals and infection by the microsporidian Vavraia culicis . Our findings reveal the costs of blood feeding and parasitism on longevity, highlighting trade-offs in lifetime protein, carbohydrate, and lipid reserves. Notably, shifts in carbohydrate-to-lipid ratios predict survival likelihood, with survivors exhibiting higher resource reserves and uniquely transitioning from carbohydrate to lipid utilisation, a pattern absent in non-survivors. Through the integration of these results into ecological and epidemiological contexts, we discuss evolutionary constraints on reproduction and how Plasmodium adapts to host resource availability. This study emphasises the coevolutionary dynamics between hosts and parasites and encourages future research on host physiological changes influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
