publications
2026
- ECR Spotlight – Martin DessartJournal of Experimental Biology, Jan 2026
ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Martin Dessart is an author on ‘ Acute and chronic sublethal chemical pollution affects activity, learning and memory in mosquito larvae’, published in JEB. Martin conducted the research described in this article while a PhD candidate in Claudio Lazzari’s lab at Insect Biology Research Institute - UMR 7261 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/University of Tours, France. Martin is now a Postdoctoral associate in the lab of Clement Vinauger at Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, USA, investigating how animals, particularly insects, integrate information from their environment to adapt their behaviour.
- Acute and chronic sublethal chemical pollution affects activity, learning and memory in mosquito larvaeMartin Dessart, Claudio R. Lazzari, and Fernando J. GuerrieriJournal of Experimental Biology, Jan 2026
Freshwater ecosystems play a critical role in supporting biodiversity and providing essential environmental services. However, these ecosystems are increasingly threatened by human activities, including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. Traditional assessment methods focus on water properties, but biomonitoring approaches, particularly those examining behaviour and cognition, provide valuable insights into the ecological effects of pollutants. This study examines the effects of three common pollutants (glyphosate, atrazine and paracetamol) on the cognitive abilities of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae, a vector for several diseases. We used an automated bioassay to study habituation learning and the effects of the three pollutants alone or in combination, at sub-lethal doses ranging from field-realistic to commercially recommended levels. Our results show that the three compounds modulate individual spontaneous activity and impair habituation and memory retention. These changes may alter the perception or the behavioural response of mosquito larvae to signals of their environment as indicating the presence of conspecifics or predators, and suggest that other organisms living in freshwater ecosystems may also be affected. Incorporating behavioural and cognitive assessments in ecotoxicological studies provides a more comprehensive understanding of the ecological effects of pollutants, which is needed to address economic challenges in fragile ecosystems.
2024
- The cognition of mosquito larvae as a biological indicator of the quality of aquatic ecosystemsMartin Dessart, Claudio R. Lazzari, and Fernando J. GuerrieriPhD Manuscript, Mar 2024
Human activities affect organisms living in freshwater ecosystems. Sublethal doses of pollutants alter the perception, integration and storage of information in aquatic invertebrates. However, it remains difficult to quantify these effects using chemical analysis of water or biodiversity monitoring. Instead, the development of novel biological indicators involves the analysis of cognitive abilities as a sensitive and integrative endpoint. In this work, we assess the cognitive abilities of mosquito larvae in relation to their environment and investigate whether they can be used as biological indicators of the quality of freshwater ecosystems. Taken together, our results show that mosquito larvae are capable of learning and remembering information that are modulated by environmental conditions and the presence of pollutants. Thanks to a controlled experimental framework, this work provides a first proof of concept for the use of the cognition of mosquito larvae as a bioindicator of freshwater ecosystem quality.
- Color-advertising strategies of invasive plants through the bee eyeMartin Dessart, João Marcelo Robazzi Bignelli Valente Aguiar, Eric Tabacchi, Sylvie Guillerme, and Martin GiurfaFrontiers in Plant Science, Mar 2024
Invasive plants represent a significant global challenge as they compete with native plants for limited resources such as space, nutrients and pollinators. Here, we focused on four invasive species that are widely spread in the French Pyrenees,
Buddleja davidii ,Reynoutria japonica ,Spiraea japonica andImpatiens glandulifera , and analyzed their visual advertisement signals with respect to those displayed by their surrounding native species using a perceptual approach based on the neural mechanisms of bee vision given that bees are regular pollinators of these plants. We collected 543 spectral reflections from the 4 invasive species, and 66 native species and estimated achromatic and chromatic similarities to the bee eye.R. japonica, S. japonica andB. davidii were inconspicuous against the foliage background and could be hardly discriminated in terms of color from their surrounding native plants. These characteristics promote generalization, potentially attracting pollinators foraging on similar native species. Two morphs ofI. glandulifera were both highly salient in chromatic and achromatic terms and different from their surrounding native species. This distinctive identity facilitates detection and learning in association with rich nectar. While visual signals are not the only sensory cue accounting for invasive-plant success, our study reveals new elements for understanding biological invasion processes from the perspective of pollinator perceptual processes - Habituation leads to short but not long term memory formation in mosquito larvaeMartin Dessart, Claudio R Lazzari, and Fernando J GuerrieriJournal of Insect Physiology, Mar 2024
In animals, memory allows to remember important locations and conserve energy by not responding to irrelevant stimuli. However, memory formation and maintenance are metabolically costly, making it worthwhile to understand the mechanisms underlying different types of memory and their adaptive value. In this study, we investigated the memory persistence of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae, after habituation to a visual stimulus. We used an automated tracking system for quantifying the response of mosquito larvae to the passage of a shadow, simulating an approaching predator. First, we compared different retention times, from 4 min to 24 h, and found that mosquito larvae only exhibited memory capabilities less than 3 h after training. Secondly, we investigated the role of inter-trial intervals in memory formation. In contrast to other aquatic invertebrates, mosquito larvae showed no long-term memory even at long inter-trial intervals (i.e., 5 min and 10 min). Our results are discussed in relation to the ecological constraints.
2023
- Assessing learning in mosquito larvae using video-trackingMartin Dessart, Miguel Piñeirúa, Claudio R Lazzari, and Fernando J GuerrieriJournal of Insect Physiology, Mar 2023
Mosquito larvae display a stereotyped escape response when they rest attached to the water surface. It consists in detaching from the surface and diving, to return to the surface after a brief time. It has been shown that this response can be evoked several times, by repeatedly presenting a moving shadow. Diving triggered by a potential danger revealed as a simple bioassay for investigating behavioural responses in mosquito larvae, in particular their ability to learn. In the present work, we describe an automated system, based on video-tracking individuals, and extracting quantitative data of their movements. We validated our system, by reinvestigating the habituation response of larvae of Aedes aegypti reared in the laboratory, and providing original data on field-collected larvae of genera Culex and Anopheles. Habituation could be demonstrated to occur in all the species, even though it was not possible to induce dishabituation in Culex and Anopheles mosquitoes. In addition to non-associative learning, we characterised motor activity in the studied species, thanks to the possibility offered by the tracking system to extract multiple variables. The here-described system and algorithms can be easily adapted to multiple experi mental situations and variables of interest.