Whole metagenome sequencing reveals links between mosquito microbiota and insecticide resistance in malaria vectors

Abstract

In light of the declining global malaria burden attained largely due to insecticides, a deeper understanding of the factors driving insecticide resistance is needed to mitigate its growing threat to malaria vector control programs. Following evidence of microbiota-mediated insecticide resistance in agricultural pests, we undertook a comparative study of the microbiota in mosquitoes of differing insecticide resistance status. The microbiota of wild-caught Anopheles albimanus, an important Latin American malaria vector, that were resistant (FEN_Res) or susceptible (FEN_Sus) to the organophosphate (OP) insecticide fenitrothion were characterized and compared using whole metagenome sequencing. Results showed differing composition of the microbiota and its functions between FEN_Res and FEN_Sus, with significant enrichment of OP-degrading bacteria and enzymes in FEN_Res compared to FEN_Sus. Lower bacterial diversity was observed in FEN_Res compared to FEN_Sus, suggesting the enrichment of bacterial taxa with a competitive advantage in response to insecticide selection pressure. We report and characterize for the first time whole metagenomes of An. albimanus, revealing associations between the microbiota and phenotypic resistance to the insecticide fenitrothion. This study lays the groundwork for further investigation of the role of the mosquito microbiota in insecticide resistance.

Proteomic Investigation on Anopheles gambiae in Burkina Faso Related to Insecticide Pressures from Different Climatic Regions

“…In the Sahelian region, 16 proteins involved in insecticide resistance, including thioredoxin, glutathione (GSH) peroxidase, GSH S‐transferase, cytochromes, ester carboxylesterase, enoyl‐CoA hydratase/isomerase, acyltransferase, and acetyl‐CoA carboxylase, [ 38,39 ] were up‐regulated in the cotton crops areas. Previous studies have shown that GSH S‐transferase, carboxylesterases and peroxidases were involved in the resistance to DDT and malathion, [ 38,40 ] while GSH S‐transferases and cytochromes were associated with resistance to DDT, permethrin, deltamethrin, λ ‐cyhalothrin, and malathion.…”

“…[ 41,42,43 ] Thioredoxin peroxidase was associated with resistance to deltamethrin [ 44 ] and acetyl‐CoA acyltransferase, enoyl‐CoA isomerase, and glutathione S‐transferase with resistance to organophosphate. [ 39 ] GSH S‐transferase and cytochromes were the most impacted by insecticide pressures in both climate regions. In An.…”

The effects of geographic origin and antibiotic treatment on the gut symbiotic communities ofBactrocera oleaepopulations

“…Three of these new genera -Pluralibacter, Pseudocitrobacter, and Rosenbergiella -belong to the Enterobacteriaceae. Pluralibacter was recently differentiated from the Enterobacter genus (Brady et al, 2013) and was also found in the sand fly Phlebotomus chinensis Newstead (Li et al, 2016), the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), C. capitata (Papanicolaou et al, 2016), and the mosquito Anopheles albimanus Wiedemann (Dada et al, 2018). In contrast, Pseudocitrobacter and Rosenbergiella have never been reported as insect gut microbes before.…”

Leucine-Rich Immune Factor APL1 Is Associated With Specific Modulation of Enteric Microbiome Taxa in the Asian Malaria Mosquito Anopheles stephensi

“…The exposure of the epithelium to gut microbiota during Plasmodium infection also triggers immune hemocyte differentiation (Rodrigues et al, 2010). Finally, elements of the microbiome may influence insecticide resistance phenotypes in mosquitoes (Dada et al, 2018). Thus, microbiome effects on mosquito vector biology may be multiple and important, but are not yet well understood.…”