Assessment of antibiotic treatment on survival and susceptibility to .

Antibiotic treatment has been used to enhance anopheline susceptibility to infection, because bacterial microbiota play a fundamental role in modulating the vector competence of mosquitoes that transmit parasites. However, few studies have examined the impact of antibiotic treatments on sporogonic development in neotropical anopheline mosquitoes. Herein, we assessed the impact of antibiotic treatment on development and survival in , the main vector of malaria in the Amazon region. Female mosquitoes were treated continuously with antibiotics to impact the gut bacterial load and then tested for prevalence, infection intensity, and survival in comparison with untreated mosquitoes. Antibiotic-fed mosquitoes had not dramatic impact on development previously observed in . However, antibiotic treatment increases mosquito survival, which is known to increase vectorial capacity. These findings raise questions about the effect of antibiotics on development and survival in .