Peritrophic Membrane Formation in Adult Aedes aegypti after Blood Feeding

ABSTRACT

The peritrophic membrane (PM) is an acellular sheath that lines the digestive tract, separating the ingested food bolus from the midgut epithelium. It plays important roles in protecting the midgut epithelium from mechanical damage and insults from pathogens, and in facilitating food digestion. The purpose of this study was to examine the involvement of the PM in the midgut of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes after blood feeding. Ae. aegypti mosquitoes were fed with sucrose and blood, and collected at 0.5, 1, and 6 h post-oral feeding, respectively. Then, they were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer containing 5% sucrose pH 7.4 at 4°C, and prepared for study under a light microscope.PM was not produced when the mosquitoes received sucrose or fasted. Contrary to the blood feeding group, the PM clearly formed at 6 h post-feeding. It was concluded that PM construction was related to the ingestion of blood by the mosquitoes.