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A reliable morphological method to assess the age of male Anopheles gambiae

Huho, B.J.; Ng'habi, K.R.; Killeen, G.F.; Nkwengulila, G.; Knols, B.G.J.; Ferguson, H.M.

A reliable morphological method to assess the age of male Anopheles gambiae Thumbnail


Authors

B.J. Huho

K.R. Ng'habi

G.F. Killeen

G. Nkwengulila

B.G.J. Knols

H.M. Ferguson



Abstract

Background Release of genetically-modified (GM) or sterile male mosquitoes for malaria control is hampered by inability to assess the age and mating history of free-living male Anopheles. Methods Age and mating-related changes in the reproductive system of male Anopheles gambiae were quantified and used to fit predictive statistical models. These models, based on numbers of spermatocysts, relative size of sperm reservoir and presence/absence of a clear area around the accessory gland, were evaluated using an independent sample of mosquitoes whose status was blinded during the experiment. Results The number of spermatocysts in male testes decreased with age, and the relative size of their sperm reservoir increased. The presence of a clear area around accessory glands was also linked to age and mating status. A quantitative model was able to categorize males from the blind trial into age groups of young (≤ 4 days) and old (> 4 days) with an overall efficiency of 89%. Using the parameters of this model, a simple table was compiled that can be used to predict male age. In contrast, mating history could not be reliably assessed as virgins could not be distinguished from mated males. Conclusion Simple assessment of a few morphological traits which are easily collected in the field allows accurate age-grading of male An. gambiae. This simple, yet robust, model enables evaluation of demographic patterns and mortality in wild and released males in populations targeted by GM or sterile male-based control programmes.

Citation

Huho, B., Ng'habi, K., Killeen, G., Nkwengulila, G., Knols, B., & Ferguson, H. (2006). A reliable morphological method to assess the age of male Anopheles gambiae. Malaria Journal, 5, Article 62. https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-5-62

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 27, 2006
Online Publication Date Jul 27, 2006
Publication Date Jul 27, 2006
Deposit Date May 11, 2018
Publicly Available Date May 11, 2018
Journal Malaria Journal
Electronic ISSN 1475-2875
Publisher BioMed Central
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 5
Article Number 62
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-5-62
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1550663

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© Huho et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2006 This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.




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