Nutritional sex-specificity on bacterial metabolites during mosquito (Aedes aegypti) development leads to adult sex-ratio distortion.

Mosquitoes rely on their microbiota for B vitamin synthesis. We previously found that Aedes aegypti third-instar larvae cleared of their microbiota were impaired in their development, notably due to a lack of folic acid (vitamin B9). In this study, we found that diet supplementation using a cocktail of seven B vitamins did not improve mosquito developmental success, but rather had a significant impact on the sex-ratio of the resulting adults, with an enrichment of female mosquitoes emerging from B vitamin-treated larvae.

Cytotoxic Lymphocytes Target HIV-1 Gag Through Granzyme M-Mediated Cleavage.

Untreated HIV-1 infection leads to a slow decrease in CD4 T cell lymphocytes over time resulting in increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, AIDS) and ultimately death of the infected individual. Initially, the host's immune response controls the infection, but cannot eliminate the HIV-1 from the host. Cytotoxic lymphocytes are the key effector cells in this response and can mediate crucial antiviral responses through the release of a set of proteases called granzymes towards HIV-1-infected cells.