Microbiota structure and diversity in Aedes albopictus at different developmental stages

Abstract

To investigate the diversity and composition of microflora in laboratory-reared Aedes albopictus at different developmental stages and larval habitat waters. The larval habitat waters and different developmental stages of laboratory-reared A. albopictus were collected, and the V3 and V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene were sequenced using Illumina Miseq next-generation sequencing. The abundance and diversity of the microflora were examined using alpha diversity index in A. albopictus at different developmental stages, and the difference in the microflora compositions was compared in A. albopictus at different developmental stages using principal component analysis (PCA). In addition, the species composition and relative abundance of microflora in A. albopictus at different developmental stages were described using histograms and Venn diagrams. A total of 16 phyla, 30 classes, 72 orders, 129 families and 224 genera of bacteria were detected in larval habitat waters and different developmental stages of A. albopictus. The highest bacterial diversity was seen in larval A. albopictus, with Chao index of 125.20 ± 30.48 and Shannon diversity index of 2.04 ± 0.39, which were comparable to those (Chao index of 118.52 ± 15.07 and Shannon diversity index of 2.15 ± 0.30) in larval habitat waters (t = 0.35 and -0.41, both P values > 0.05). The bacterial abundance and evenness were significantly greater in female adults than in male adults (Chao index: 42.50 ± 3.54 vs. 18.50 ± 2.13, t = 8.23, P < 0.05; Shannon diversity index: 1.25 ± 1.67 vs. 0.50 ± 0.05, t = 6.00, P < 0.05). Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota and Finnicutes were four common phyla of bacteria at each developmental stage of A. albopictus, with Proteobacteria dominated at the pupal stage (90.36%), Bacteroidota dominated at the adult stage (46.01% in female adults and 86.11% in male adults), and Actinobacteriota dominated at the larval stage (32.10%). Elizabethkingia and Rahnella 1 were common dominant genera of bacteria at each developmental stage of A. albopictus, with Rahnellal as the major component at the pupal stage (87.56%), Elizabethkingia as the main component at the adult stage (46.01% in female adults and 86.11% in male adults, respectively), and Microbacteria as the dominant bacterial genus at the larval stage (12.11%). In addition, Delftia, Elizabethkingia, Romboutsia, Serratia, Rahnella 1, Enterococcus and Microbacterium were common genera of bacteria at each developmental stage of A. albopictus, with Edaphobaculum dominated at the larval stage (17.54%) and Sphingobacterium dominated in larval habitat waters (13.93%). There are differences in the composition of symbiotic bacteria at different developmental stages of A. albopictus; however, similar microflora diversity is maintained at the phylum level. The microflora diversity is comparable in larvae and larval habitat waters of A. albopictus.