Abstract
Elizabethkingia anophelis is a dominant bacterial species in the gut ecosystem of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiae. We recently sequenced the genomes of two strains of E. anophelis, R26T and Ag1, isolated from different strains of A. gambiae. The two bacterial strains are identical with a few exceptions. Phylogenetically, Elizabethkingia is closer to Chryseobacterium and Riemerella than to Flavobacterium. In line with other Bacteroidetes known to utilize various polymers in their ecological niches, the E. anophelis genome contains numerous TonB dependent transporters with various substrate specificities. In addition, several genes belonging to the polysaccharide utilization system and the glycoside hydrolase family were identified that could potentially be of benefit for the mosquito carbohydrate metabolism. In agreement with previous reports of broad antibiotic resistance in E. anophelis, a large number of genes encoding efflux pumps and β-lactamases are present in the genome. The component genes of resistance-nodulation-division type efflux pumps were found to be syntenic and conserved in different taxa of Bacteroidetes. The bacterium also displays hemolytic activity and encodes several hemolysins that may participate in the digestion of erythrocytes in the mosquito gut. At the same time, the OxyR regulon and antioxidant genes could provide defense against the oxidative stress that is associated with blood digestion. The genome annotation and comparative genomic analysis revealed functional characteristics associated with the symbiotic relationship with the mosquito host.
Highlights
The mosquito gut accommodates a diverse and dynamic microbiota [1,2,3,4,5], which has a profound impact on host metabolism, fecundity [6] and immunity [7,8]
A single copy of a 16 S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene is found in the genome
The R26T contig 104 contains six putative genes associated with conjugal elements, indicating the presence of a conjugative plasmid or transposon
Summary
The mosquito gut accommodates a diverse and dynamic microbiota [1,2,3,4,5], which has a profound impact on host metabolism, fecundity [6] and immunity [7,8]. The gut microbiome is not a random assemblage; the common core taxa belong to Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria [2]. To better understand its structure and function in the mosquito gut ecosystem, it is necessary to characterize abundant taxa. Elizabethkingia is a genus in the Flavobacteriaceae family of Bacteroidetes and represents a separate lineage from the Chryseobacterium-Bergeyella-Riemerella branch [9]. Elizabethkingia spp. has been found to be a predominant resident in the gut of Anopheles gambiae [1,2], An. stephensi [4,10] and Aedes aegypti [11]. Was isolated from the midgut of An. gambiae, Ifakara strain [1]. Subsequent hybridization experiments and fingerprint analyses together with biochemical tests, clearly separated R26T from E. meningoseptica and E
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