Abstract
Mosquito breeding sites are complex aquatic environments with wide microbial diversity and physicochemical parameters that can change over time during the development of immature insect stages. Changes in biotic and abiotic conditions in water can alter life-history traits of adult mosquitos but this area remains understudied. Here, using microbial genomic and metabolomics analyses, we explored the metabolites associated with Aedes aegypti breeding sites as well as the potential contribution of Klebsiella sp., symbiotic bacteria highly associated with mosquitoes. We sought to address whether breeding sites have a signature metabolic profile and understand the metabolite contribution of the bacteria in the aquatic niches where Ae. aegypti larvae develop. An analysis of 32 mosquito-associated bacterial genomes, including Klebsiella, allowed us to identify gene clusters involved in primary metabolic pathways. From them, we inferred metabolites that could impact larval development (e.g., spermidine), as well as influence the quality assessment of a breeding site by a gravid female (e.g., putrescine), if produced by bacteria in the water. We also detected significant variance in metabolite presence profiles between water samples representing a decoupled oviposition event (oviposition by single females and manually deposited eggs) versus a control where no mosquito interactions occurred (PERMANOVA: p < 0.05; R2 = 24.64% and R2 = 30.07%). Five Klebsiella metabolites were exclusively linked to water samples where oviposition and development occurred. These data suggest metabolomics can be applied to identify compounds potentially used by female Ae. aegypti to evaluate the quality of a breeding site. Elucidating the physiological mechanisms by which the females could integrate these sensory cues while ovipositing constitutes a growing field of interest, which could benefit from a more depurated list of candidate molecules.
Highlights
The ability of Aedes aegypti to thrive in urban environments and benefit from the available resources, has made this mosquito a permanent threat to human health (Brady and Hay, 2020; Rose et al, 2020)
This is the case with Klebsiella, a genus of bacteria frequently reported in mosquitoes and their breeding sites (Gusmão et al, 2010; Chandel et al, 2013; Dada et al, 2014; Yadav et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2018; Hery et al, 2020; Alvarado et al, 2021; Rocha et al, 2021)
This is interesting considering that the water samples collected in natural breeding sites and domestic water storage containers have revealed the presence of Klebsiella (Dada et al, 2014; Hery et al, 2020; Rocha et al, 2021)
Summary
The ability of Aedes aegypti to thrive in urban environments and benefit from the available resources (i.e., humans as blood meal sources for reproduction and human-generated breeding sites for progeny), has made this mosquito a permanent threat to human health (Brady and Hay, 2020; Rose et al, 2020). Several bacterial isolates have been consistently detected in breeding sites, mosquito gut, and other mosquito-associated sources (Guégan et al, 2018) This is the case with Klebsiella, a genus of bacteria frequently reported in mosquitoes and their breeding sites (Gusmão et al, 2010; Chandel et al, 2013; Dada et al, 2014; Yadav et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2018; Hery et al, 2020; Alvarado et al, 2021; Rocha et al, 2021). Petri dishes filled with lyophilized Klebsiella resuspended in sterile water have proven to induce oviposition in Culex pipiens (Díaz-Nieto, 2014) This is interesting considering that the water samples collected in natural breeding sites and domestic water storage containers have revealed the presence of Klebsiella (Dada et al, 2014; Hery et al, 2020; Rocha et al, 2021).
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