{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,17]],"date-time":"2026-08-17T09:30:39Z","timestamp":1786959039547,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,17]],"date-time":"2026-08-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786924800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Insect Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    The salivary gland (SG) is the final barrier for\n                    <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n                    transmission to humans but remains comparatively understudied relative to the midgut microbiome. This review synthesizes current knowledge on SG microbiome acquisition routes, composition, and functional significance. Acquisition may occur via larval filter feeding, vertical (egg smearing), transstadial, or horizontal transmission during blood feeding, though their relative contributions are unknown. Compositional studies show Gram-negative genera\n                    <jats:italic>Serratia<\/jats:italic>\n                    ,\n                    <jats:italic>Elizabethkingia<\/jats:italic>\n                    ,\n                    <jats:italic>Acinetobacter<\/jats:italic>\n                    ,\n                    <jats:italic>Pseudomonas<\/jats:italic>\n                    , and\n                    <jats:italic>Asaia<\/jats:italic>\n                    predominate;\n                    <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n                    infection correlates with increased\n                    <jats:italic>Serratia<\/jats:italic>\n                    and decreased\n                    <jats:italic>Elizabethkingia<\/jats:italic>\n                    abundance. While immune-related genes (e.g., cecropins, defensin, GNBP, SRPN6) expressed in the SG may be modulated by resident bacteria, direct evidence of their effect on sporozoite invasion remains lacking. Gram-negative bacteria trigger Toll, Imd, and JAK-STAT pathways, but emerging evidence suggests the SG may mount a distinct, locally independent immune response compared to the systemic pathway. Paratransgenesis using\n                    <jats:italic>Asaia<\/jats:italic>\n                    shows promise, yet SG-targeted effector delivery remains untested. Ecological pressures common in West Africa, including agricultural pesticides, insecticide resistance, and larval water contamination, may influence mosquito-associated bacteria, but no studies explicitly link these to the SG microbiome. Significant knowledge gaps persist, notably the absence of field studies in high-burden regions like Nigeria and the lack of experimental manipulation to establish causality. Addressing these priorities is critical to determine whether the SG microbiome can be exploited as a transmission-blocking target.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/finsc.2026.1911294","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,17]],"date-time":"2026-08-17T09:22:30Z","timestamp":1786958550000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Salivary gland microbiome of Anopheles gambiae: a mini-review of acquisition, composition, and functional significance"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Celestina O.","family":"Olafusi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Covenant University","place":["Ota, Ogun, Nigeria"]},{"name":"Covenant Applied Informatics and Communication Africa Centre of Excellence, Covenant University","place":["Ota, Ogun, Nigeria"]},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, University of Medical Sciences","place":["Laje, Ondo, Nigeria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Israel S.","family":"Afolabi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Covenant University","place":["Ota, Ogun, Nigeria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olubanke O.","family":"Ogunlana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Covenant University","place":["Ota, Ogun, Nigeria"]},{"name":"Covenant Applied Informatics and Communication Africa Centre of Excellence, Covenant University","place":["Ota, Ogun, Nigeria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"World Malaria Report 2025: Addressing the Threat of Antimalarial Drug Resistance\n          \n          \n          \n          2025"},{"key":"B2","article-title":"Nigeria receives malaria vaccines ahead of rollout","volume-title":"Press 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