The larval environment strongly influences the bacterial communities of Aedes triseriatus and Aedes japonicus (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract

Mosquito bacterial communities are essential in mosquito biology, and knowing the factors shaping these bacterial communities is critical to their application in mosquito-borne disease control. This study investigated how the larval environment influences the bacterial communities of larval stages of two container-dwelling mosquito species, Aedes triseriatus, and Aedes japonicus. Larval and water samples were collected from tree holes and used tires at two study sites, and their bacteria characterized through MiSeq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Bacterial richness was highest in Ae. japonicus, intermediate in Ae. triseriatus, and lowest in water samples. Dysgonomonas was the dominant bacterial taxa in Ae. triseriatus larvae; the unclassified Comamonadaceae was dominant in water samples from waste tires, while Mycobacterium and Carnobacterium, dominated Ae. japonicus. The two mosquito species harbored distinct bacterial communities that were different from those of the water samples. The bacterial communities also clustered by habitat type (used tires vs. tree holes) and study site. These findings demonstrate that host species, and the larval sampling environment are important determinants of a significant component of bacterial community composition and diversity in mosquito larvae and that the mosquito body may select for microbes that are generally rare in the larval environment.

Larval habitat determines the bacterial and fungal microbiota of the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti

“…japonicus larvae and this genus with an unclassified Rhizobiales occurred in disproportionally higher abundance in Ae. japonicus samples from used tires (Juma et al 2021). Moreover, the distribution of the other most abundant and prevalent genera varied considerably among water and larvae except for an OTU belonging to an uncultured Burkholderiaceae which was highly abundant and prevalent in both samples.…”

Vibrio cholerae Invasion Dynamics of the Chironomid Host Are Strongly Influenced by Aquatic Cell Density and Can Vary by Strain

“…Dysgonomonas is also frequently reported to be associated with larval mosquitoes, which also occupy diverse aquatic habitats. In the larvae of Aedes triseriatus , Dysgonomonas was shown to be the dominant genus, accounting for over 50% of the microbiome ( 26 ). However, Dysgonomonas was not found in A. triseriatus adults, suggesting this genus may be specific to the aquatic life stage.…”

Effects of seasonality and developed land cover on Culex mosquito abundance and microbiome diversity

“…Moreover, wooded areas often host diverse flora and fauna, influencing mosquito feeding patterns and thereby potentially exposing them to a broader range of bacteria (Muturi et al, 2019). In more urbanized areas, we would expect larval development to rely more strongly on urban infrastructure such as catch basins or container habitats, and reliance on human-associated rather than natural larval habitats can affect microbiome composition (Juma et al, 2021). The Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis (IDH) posits that moderate levels of disturbance in ecosystems can promote species diversity (Fox, 1979;Sheil and Burslem, 2013).…”