Dietary L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) augments cuticular melanization in Anopheles mosquitos reducing their lifespan and malaria burden
L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA), a naturally occurring tyrosine derivative, is prevalent in environments that include mosquito habitats, potentially serving as part of their diet. Given its role as a precursor for melanin synthesis we investigate the effect of dietary L-DOPA on mosquito physiology and immunity to Plasmodium falciparum and Cryptococcus neoformans infection. Dietary L-DOPA is incorporated into mosquito melanin via a non-canonical pathway and has a profound transcriptional effect associated with enhanced immunity, increased pigmentation, and reduced lifespan. Increased melanization results in an enhanced capacity to absorb electromagnetic radiation that affects mosquito temperatures. Bacteria in the mosquito microbiome act as sources of dopamine, a substrate for melanization. Our results illustrate how an environmentally abundant amino acid analogue can affect mosquito physiology and suggest its potential usefulness as an environmentally friendly vector control agent to reduce malaria transmission, warranting further research and field studies.
Authors
- Daniel F. Q. Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7674-9988)
- Barbara A. Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2413-6466)
- Raúl G. Saraiva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9847-8277)
- Godfree Mlambo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8917-9710)
- Isabella Hartshorn
- Amanda Dziedzic (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2012-2035)
- Ruth E. Stark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3132-4580)
- Abhai K. Tripathi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9848-0142)
- J. Alberto Patiño-Medina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2569-7716)
- Radamés J. B. Cordero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3026-7094)
- Emma Camacho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8591-8176)
- Yesseinia I. Angleró-Rodriguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6674-0595)
- Ella Jacobs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2427-6971)
- Christine Chrissian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2858-4864)
- Yuemei Dong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7902-2899)
- Anne Jedlicka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3826-2973)
- Nichole A. Broderick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6830-9456)
- George Dimopoulos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6755-8111)
- Arturo Casadevall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9402-9167)
- Michael DePasquale
Institutions
- City College of New York (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Johns Hopkins Medicine (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-08-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63077-y
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.76
Funders
- California Institute of Technology
- Johns Hopkins University
- Bloomberg Philanthropies
- National Institutes of Health
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Division of Chemistry