Abstract
How microbe–microbe interactions dictate microbial complexity in the mosquito gut is unclear. Previously we found that, Serratia, a gut symbiont that alters vector competence and is being considered for vector control, poorly colonized Aedes aegypti yet was abundant in Culex quinquefasciatus reared under identical conditions. To investigate the incompatibility between Serratia and Ae. aegypti, we characterized two distinct strains of Serratia marcescens from Cx. quinquefasciatus and examined their ability to infect Ae. aegypti. Both Serratia strains poorly infected Ae. aegypti, but when microbiome homeostasis was disrupted, the prevalence and titers of Serratia were similar to the infection in its native host. Examination of multiple genetically diverse Ae. aegypti lines found microbial interference to S. marcescens was commonplace, however, one line of Ae. aegypti was susceptible to infection. Microbiome analysis of resistant and susceptible lines indicated an inverse correlation between Enterobacteriaceae bacteria and Serratia, and experimental co-infections in a gnotobiotic system recapitulated the interference phenotype. Furthermore, we observed an effect on host behavior; Serratia exposure to Ae. aegypti disrupted their feeding behavior, and this phenotype was also reliant on interactions with their native microbiota. Our work highlights the complexity of host–microbe interactions and provides evidence that microbial interactions influence mosquito behavior.
Highlights
Mosquitoes harbor a variety of diverse microbes that profoundly alter host phenotypes [1,2,3]
While the host is instrumental in maintaining microbiome homeostasis [10,11,12,13,14], evidence is emerging that bacterial genetics and microbe–microbe interactions dictate the prevalence and abundance of microbiota [15,16,17,18]
Two strains of Serratia were isolated from Cx. quinquefasciatus by conventional microbiology procedures. 16S rRNA sequencing indicated that these strains were S. marcescens, and each produced a red pigmentation when grown in a culture, which is indicative of this species (Fig. S2a)
Summary
Mosquitoes harbor a variety of diverse microbes that profoundly alter host phenotypes [1,2,3]. While the host is instrumental in maintaining microbiome homeostasis [10,11,12,13,14], evidence is emerging that bacterial genetics and microbe–microbe interactions dictate the prevalence and abundance of microbiota [15,16,17,18]. These processes are important as the microbiome can influence the ability of mosquitoes to transmit pathogens [3, 19, 20], but potentially other traits related to vectorial capacity. A greater appreciation of factors that influence colonization of the mosquito gut and how microbes effect the host is critical for deploying microbial-based approaches to control mosquitoborne disease [23, 24]
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