Impact of field-realistic doses of glyphosate and nutritional stress on
mosquito life history-traits and susceptibility to malaria parasite
infection
Abstract
Glyphosate is the world’s most widely used herbicide. The commercial
success of this molecule is due to its non-selectivity and its action,
which would supposedly target specific biosynthetic pathways found
mainly in plants. Multiple studies have however provided evidence for
high sensitivity of many non-target species to glyphosate and/or to
formulations (glyphosate mixed with surfactants). This herbicide, found
at significant levels in aquatic systems through surface runoffs,
impacts life history traits and immune parameters of several aquatic
invertebrates’ species. Some of these species are vectors of diseases,
one of the most important of which is the mosquito. Mosquitoes, from
hatching to emergence, are exposed to aquatic chemical contaminants. In
this study, we first compared the toxicity of pure glyphosate to the
toxicity of glyphosate-based formulations for the main vector of avian
malaria in Europe, Culex pipiens mosquito. Then we evaluated, for the
first time, how field realistic dose of glyphosate interacts with larval
nutritional stress to alter mosquito life history traits and
susceptibility to avian malaria parasite infection. Our results show
that exposure of larvae to field-realistic doses of glyphosate, pure or
in formulation, did not affect larval survival rate, adult size and
female fecundity. One of our two experimental blocks showed, however,
that exposure to glyphosate decreased development time and reduced
mosquito infection probability by malaria parasite. Interestingly the
effect on malaria infection was lost when the larvae were also subjected
to a nutritional stress, probably due to a lower ingestion of
glyphosate.