Quorum sensing gene regulation in Staphylococcus epidermidis reduces the attraction of Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae).

One potential mechanism suppressing mosquito attraction could be the reduction (31.6% in our study) of bacterial volatiles and their associated concentrations by shifting metabolic (12 of 29 up regulated genes) and stress (5 of 36 down regulated genes) responses. Manipulating the quorum-sensing pathways could serve as a mechanism to reduce mosquito attraction to a host. Such manipulations could be developed into novel control methods for pathogen-transmitting mosquitoes and other arthropods.