Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded The Ohio State University $525,789 under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) on April 1, 2026, for a five-year project period concluding March 31, 2031. This Project Grant supports comprehensive research to identify and characterize bacterial isolates and microbial communities that influence male life history traits and mating success in genetically diverse Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The research directly addresses the practical requirements of Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and mass rearing programs used for mosquito population control and disease prevention worldwide.

The funded research will experimentally colonize mosquitoes with multiple candidate bacterial communities and assess their impact on adult male traits critical to SIT effectiveness, including longevity, flight capacity, mating success, sperm quantity, and the ability to induce female refractoriness to re-mating. The project will evaluate these impacts across genetically differentiated mosquito strains under both laboratory and semi-field conditions, and will investigate B vitamins as a mechanistic determinant of male mosquito-microbe interactions. By improving understanding of how microbiota influence male mosquito performance, this research will generate findings applicable to optimizing mass production protocols, enhancing male competitive ability, and extending field efficacy—thereby improving the success and reducing costs of vector control programs.