Bacterial composition of midgut and entire body of laboratory colonies of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus from Southern China

Datao Lin,Tao Ding,Benjamin Sanogo,Xi Sun,Xiaoying Zheng,Zhongdao Wu

doi:10.1186/s13071-021-05050-4

Abstract

BackgroundAedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are invasive mosquito species and significantly impact human health in southern China. Microbiota are confirmed to affect the development and immunity of mosquitoes. However, scientists have focused more on midgut microbiota of female mosquitoes and bacterial differences between female and male Aedes mosquitoes. The relationship between the midgut and entire body microbiota of Aedes is unclear. In this study, we collected mosquito samples reared under the same laboratory conditions and compared the microbial composition of midgut and entire bodies of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.MethodsIn this study, we collected mosquito samples reared under the same laboratory conditions and compared the microbial composition of midgut and entire bodies of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.ResultsA total of 341 OTUs were identified, showing that Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum and Methylobacterium the dominant genus in both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The bacterial diversity and community structures of the entire bodies were similar between males and females in both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Conversely, the bacterial compositions of male and female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus were significantly different. NMDS analysis, UPGMA analysis, diversity indices and OTU distribution demonstrated that compositions and structures in midgut microbiota were similar but significantly different in the entire bodies of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Functional prediction analysis showed that metabolism and environmental information processing were the dominant KEGG pathways at level 1. Our study showed that there were significantly different level 2 and 3 KEGG pathways in the midgut microbiota (16 level 2 and 24 level 3) and the entire bodies (33 level 2 and 248 level 3) between female Aedes albopictus and Aedes Aegypti.ConclusionsOur findings that Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus reared in the same laboratory harbor a similar gut bacterial microbiome but different entire body microbiota imply that the gut microbiota of adult mosquitoes is environmentally determined regardless of the host genotype, but the entire body microbiota is more genetically determined. Our findings improved the understanding of the microbiota in the entire and partial tissues of Aedes mosquitoes.Graphical abstract

Highlights

Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, well-known invasive mosquito species, have rapidly expanded and spread to most countries globally in the past 40 years [1,2,3]
The study revealed that most bacterial genera in wild Culex pipiens and laboratory-reared adult Aedes japonicus could be found in other mosquito species, such as Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus [19], indicating that different mosquitoes may share the same microorganisms
We revealed the bacterial communities and their associations in the entire bodies and midguts of male and female Aedes mosquitoes reared under laboratory conditions and investigated the relationship between Wolbachia and other microbes of Ae. albopictus

Summary

Introduction

Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, well-known invasive mosquito species, have rapidly expanded and spread to most countries globally in the past 40 years [1,2,3]. The study revealed that most bacterial genera in wild Culex pipiens and laboratory-reared adult Aedes japonicus could be found in other mosquito species, such as Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus [19], indicating that different mosquitoes may share the same microorganisms. Studies on Ae. aegypti and Anopheles gambiae (An. gambiae) revealed that the development of these mosquitoes depended on gut microbiota [20, 21] These studies focused on the midgut microbiota and the biological aspects of the hosts. We collected mosquito samples reared under the same laboratory conditions and compared the microbial composition of midgut and entire bodies of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus using 16S rRNA gene sequencing

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