Consuming Royal Jelly Causes Mosquitoes to Shift Into and Out of Their Overwintering Dormancy

Females of the Northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens, enter an overwintering dormancy, or diapause, in response to short day lengths and low environmental temperatures. Diapausing female mosquitoes feed exclusively on sugar-rich products rather than human or animal blood, thereby reducing disease transmission. During diapause, Major Royal Jelly Protein 1 (MRJP1) is upregulated in females of Cx. pipiens. This protein is highly abundant in royal jelly, a substance produced by honey bees (Apis mellifera), that is fed to future queens throughout larval development and stimulates longevity and fecundity. However, the role of MRJP1 in Cx. pipiens is unknown. We investigated how supplementing the diets of both diapausing and nondiapausing females of Cx. pipiens with royal jelly affects gene expression, egg follicle length, fat content, protein content, longevity, and metabolic profile. We found that feeding royal jelly to long day-reared females significantly reduced the egg follicle lengths of females and switched their metabolic profiles to be similar to diapausing females. In contrast, feeding royal jelly to short day-reared females significantly reduced lifespan and switched their metabolic profile to be similar nondiapausing mosquitoes. Moreover, RNAi directed against MRJPI significantly increased egg follicle length of short day-reared females, suggesting that these females averted diapause, although RNAi against MRJP1 also extended the lifespan of short day-reared females. Taken together, our data show that consuming royal jelly reverses the seasonal responses of Cx. pipiens and that these responses are likely mediated in part by MRJP1. Summary StatementConsuming royal jelly reversed seasonal differences in physiological states, lifespan and metabolic profiles in females of the Northern house mosquito, a major vector of West Nile virus.