Fig. 2

Sugar-meal introduction of Esp_Z has no impact on Anopheles gambiae fitness. a Longevity studies were performed following continuous sugar-meal introduction of either Esp_Z, a bacterial cocktail, or PBS into aseptic mosquito cohorts. A sterile blood meal was provided on day 4 (black arrow), and unfed mosquitoes were censored from the analysis. Survival was monitored daily and continued until 100 % mortality was reached. The curves represent the average percent mortality across three replicates; the error bars indicate standard error. Significance was determined using the log-rank test (Mantel-Cox) with Bonferroni correction using a Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Esp_Z vs Cocktail, p > 0.9999; Esp_Z vs Aseptic, p = 0.3852. b Comparative fecundity analysis of the Esp_Z-, bacterial cocktail- and PBS-fed, sugar-fed mosquito cohorts. Separate cohorts were provided with a blood meal 72 h after introduction, and circles represent the number of eggs laid per female. Horizontal bars represent the median number of eggs, and error bars indicate the standard error; three pooled biological replicates are shown. p = 0.0596 (Kruskal–Wallis test). c Fertility analysis in Esp_Z-, bacterial cocktail-, and PBS-fed mosquitoes. At 72 h after introduction, mosquitoes were offered a blood meal, and those not engorged were removed. Eggs were collected at 48 h post-blood meal and allowed to hatch in rearing trays. The hatch rate indicates the percentage of eggs giving rise to 1st instar larvae; the error bars indicate the standard error of the mean. p = 0.0741 (Kruskal–Wallis test)