Microbiome Composition and Microbial Community Structure in Mosquito Vectors Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in Northeastern Thailand, a Dengue-Endemic Area

Abstract

Bacterial content in mosquito larvae and adults is altered by dynamic interactions during life and varies substantially in variety and composition depending on mosquito biology and ecology. This study aimed to identify the microbiota in Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus and in water from their breeding sites in northeastern Thailand, a dengue-endemic area. Bacterial diversity in field-collected aquatic larvae and subsequently emerged adults of both species from several locations were examined. The microbiota was characterized based on analysis of DNA sequences from the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene and exhibited changes during development, from the mosquito larval stage to the adult stage. Aedes aegypti contained a significantly higher number of bacterial genera than did Ae. albopictus, except for the genus Wolbachia, which was present at significantly higher frequencies in male Ae. albopictus (p < 0.05). Our findings also indicate likely transstadial transmission from larva to adult and give better understanding of the microbial diversity in these mosquitoes, informing future control programs against mosquito-borne diseases.

Dual RNA-Seq reveals transcriptionally active microbes (TAMs) dynamics in the serum of dengue patients associated with disease severity

“…Of note, studies in other viral infectious diseases, influenza and COVID-19, have revealed functional impact of microbes in modulating disease trajectory. Few studies have explored the microbial community structure in Aedes mosquito, a vector for dengue virus (Rodpai et al, 2023). Till now, there is no published metatranscriptome study on dengue co-infection within the human host, except for a few studies highlighting concurrent bacterial co-infection in adult patients with dengue fever (Lee et al, 2005;Trunfio et al, 2017).…”

A tangled threesome: understanding arbovirus infection in Aedes spp. and the effect of the mosquito microbiota

“…The microbiota composition varies depending on the sex of the mosquito, developmental stage, larvae diet, blood source, ecology, geographical location, temperature, mosquito genetics, and metabolism (Minard et al, 2018 ; Parry et al, 2018 ; Bogale et al, 2020 ; Onyango et al, 2020 ; MacLeod et al, 2021 ; Pérez-Ramos et al, 2022 ; Sarma et al, 2022 ; Ratnayake et al, 2023 ; Rodpai et al, 2023 ). Water microbiota composition is also influenced by larval feces and the egestion of microorganisms by females during oviposition (Guégan et al, 2018 ; Scolari et al, 2019 , 2021 ).…”

“…Bacterial composition in adults are an important part of midgut microbiota with specific and common bacteria genera composition ( Supplementary Figure 1 ) (Yadav et al, 2015 ; Raharimalala et al, 2016 ; Dickson et al, 2018 ; Hegde et al, 2018 ; Rosso et al, 2018 ; Thongsripong et al, 2018 ; Bennett et al, 2019 ; Arévalo-Cortés et al, 2020 ; Molina-Henao et al, 2020 ; Ramos-Nino et al, 2020 ; Seabourn et al, 2020 ; Balaji et al, 2021 ; Díaz et al, 2021 ; Lin et al, 2021 ; Scolari et al, 2021 ; Rau et al, 2022 ; Sarma et al, 2022 ; Al-Ghamdi et al, 2023 ; Baltar et al, 2023 ; Martinez Villegas et al, 2023 ; Mosso González et al, 2023 ; Rodpai et al, 2023 ). Wolbachia is the most characterized bacteria in Aedes mosquitos ( Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Figure 1 ) (Kitrayapong et al, 2002 ; Ravikumar et al, 2010 ; Tortosa et al, 2010 ; de Albuquerque et al, 2011 ; Wiwatanaratanabutr, 2013 ; Joanne et al, 2015 ; Noor Afizah et al, 2015 ; Raharimalala et al, 2016 ; Ahmad et al, 2017 ; Nugapola et al, 2017 ; Soni et al, 2017 ; Chuchuy et al, 2018 ; Goindin et al, 2018 ; Hegde et al, 2018 ; Thongsripong et al, 2018 ; Anderson et al, 2019 ; Balaji et al, 2019 ; Carvajal et al, 2019 ; Kulkarni et al, 2019 ; Mohanty et al, 2019 ; Shaikevich et al, 2019 ; Ding et al, 2020 ; Hu et al, 2020 ; Puerta-Guardo et al, 2020 ; Torres-Monzón et al, 2020 ; Lin et al, 2021 ; Duque-G...…”

Revisiting Wolbachia detections: Old and new issues in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and other insects

“…A challenge is that molecular approaches for detecting Wolbachia and other endosymbionts have their limitations. Molecular detection is often focused on one approach such as 16S rRNA which may detect Wolbachia among a community of other bacteria (Rodpai et al., 2023 ). This approach is prone to contamination, particularly when pooled samples are used or when a lab undertakes work on other species which may have a high abundance of Wolbachia .…”