Sugar Feeding and Analysis of Gut Microbiota in Culicoides midges
Supervisors
Dr Emilie Pondeville, University of Glasgow
Dr Eva Heinz, Strathclyde University
Dr Marion England, Pirbright Insitute
Summary
Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) spread by blood-feeding insects like mosquitoes and midges pose a major threat to human and animal health. Though often linked to tropical regions, climate and environmental changes are driving their spread into temperate areas, including Northern Europe. In the UK, several midge-borne diseases have emerged in recent decades such as Bluetongue (2007, 2023) and Schmallenberg virus (2012, 2017, 2024), which have heavily impacted livestock. Midges also transmit oropouche virus, an emerging zoonotic threat with imported cases in the EU in 2024.
While nutrition and microbiota are known to influence disease transmission in mosquitoes, little is known about these factors in Culicoides midges. This project will investigate how natural sugar feeding and the microbiota shape the ability of Culicoides to spread pathogens following these specific aims: 1) Review the scientific literature on midge nectar feeding and microbiota to summarise foundational knowledge and identify gaps in current understanding; 2) Assess plant-nectar/midge interactions in natural field farm sites; 3) Characterise how habitat and nectar feeding influence adult midge microbiota diversity; 4) Analyse the influence of sugar feeding and microbiota on midge life traits.
Combining expertise in midge ecology, microbial genomics and amplicon sequence analyses, vector biology, and vector-virus interactions, this interdisciplinary study will provide novel insights into midge ecology, biology and natural mechanisms governing the capacity of midges to spread viruses. This has the potential to inform and provide new simple but effective methods for the control of midge-borne diseases.