PI : Claire Loiseau
I am developing a new project under my position of Junior Professor at the University of Montpellier. Along the Mediterranean coast, we will sample water from breeding sites of Culex pipiens mosquitoes and larvae in different types of habitat : urban areas, agricultural lands, and 'natural' areas. We will assess the microplastic pollution in the field, and back to the lab we will test the microplastic exposure to larvae and its impacts on development, emergence and survival. Ultimately, the idea is to test the vectorial capacity of C. pipiens for avian malaria after  exposure to environmental microplastics.

 Plastic pollution is a major environmental problem. Small plastic particles (called microplastics) have been reported to have pernicious effects on human and wildlife health, by altering physiological functions (e.g., immunity, metabolism) and interfering with commensal microorganisms. However, in addition to these direct toxic effects, we suggest that microplastic pollution might also exert deleterious effects, modifying (i) the exposure to pathogens (e.g., multi-drug resistant bacteria) and (ii) the dynamics of vector-borne diseases. Therefore, we argue that microplastics should be considered as a ubiquitous environmental hazard, potentially promoting the (re)emergence of infectious diseases. The implementation of multi- and interdisciplinary research projects are crucial to properly evaluate if microplastic pollution should be added to the current list of global health threats.

The archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe is a major centre of  endemism for vertebrates but, to date, arthropods remain poorly studied, with  the exception of mosquitoes due to their medical and economic relevance. Previous  studies, over 20 years old, recorded 26 species of mosquitoes for Sao Tome  and 14 for Principe, of which six and two were endemic to each island respectively.  We collected mosquito larvae and adults on both islands and found three  species as a first record, putting the number of mosquito species collected at least once on Sao Tome at 29 and 15 for Principe. We compared the mosquito  richness on Sao Tome and Principe islands to 71 other oceanic islands represented within 20 archipelagoes worldwide.  We used the general dynamic model of oceanic island biogeography and the associated ATT2 (for Area+Time+Time2) model to explain two different  metrics: (i) the richness of the single-island endemics and (ii) the richness of  archipelago endemics. Our data compilation and comparative analyses revealed an overall low  richness of endemic mosquitoes on islands, with the highest number of single island  endemics found on Sao Tome Island. As predicted, we found a positive relationship between our two richness  metrics and the general dynamic model ATT2, although the model with the area  (A) alone also explained endemic richness. (credit photo : Nil Rahola)