Landscape and mosquito community impact the avian Plasmodium infection in Culex pipiens

This work was partially supported by projects P11-RNM-7038 from the Junta de Andalucía to J.F. and the grant PN2022-2945 from the Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales. Additional funding was provided by the grant PID2022-142803OA-I00 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to M.F., by the grant PID2020-118205GB-I00 financed by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 to J.M.P, and by programa QUALIFICA, Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Universidad, Investigación e Innovación (project QUAL21 020 EBD). Finally, M.F. and J.M.-P. were partially financed by the Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators (2023 and 2017; BBVA Foundation). The BBVA Foundation accepts no responsibility for the opinions, statements, and contents included in the project and/or the results thereof, which are entirely the responsibility of the authors. M.F. is currently funded by a Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral contract (RYC2021-031613-I) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Avian malaria parasites provide an important model for studying host-pathogen interactions, yet understanding their dynamics in vectors under natural conditions is limited. We investigated the effect of vector abundance, species richness and diversity, and habitat characteristics on avian Plasmodium prevalence and lineage richness in Culex pipiens across 45 urban, natural, and rural localities in southern Spain. Analyzing 16,574 mosquitoes grouped in 768 mosquito pools, 32.7% exhibited parasite presence. 13 different Plasmodium lineages were identified, with the lineage SYAT05 being the most commonly found. Parasite prevalence positively correlated with the distance to saltmarshes and rivers, but negatively with the distance to total water source. Parasite lineage diversity was higher in natural than in rural areas and positively correlated with mosquito species richness. These results emphasize the complex dynamics of avian Plasmodium in the wild, with habitat characteristics and vector community driving the parasite transmission by mosquito vectors.

Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales PN2022-2945

Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation PID2022-142803OA-I00

MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 PID2020-118205GB-I00

Junta de Andalucía P11-RNM-7038, QUAL21 020 EBD

BBVA Foundation

Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral contract (RYC2021-031613-I)