Gut microbial diversity and function in mosquitoes

Gut microbial diversity is influenced by a combination of host and environmental factors, including diet. Mosquito larvae obtain their gut bacterial community from the aquatic environment they live in. We have found that the presence of bacteria in the larval aquatic environment is essential for normal development of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. However, whether the bacterial communities in different vector species of mosquitoes are determined primarily by features of the host or external environment is not well understood. Furthermore, the degree to which the level of bacterial richness of the larval aquatic environment impacts the physiology of other host species is not known.  Using high-throughput sequencing, we characterized the microbiome of Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae, and Georgecraigius atropalpus mosquitoes across life stage under conditions of constant environment and diet. Our results indicate that gut microbial communities are largely similar with respect to life stage and host species, and that similar assemblages of bacteria are required for normal development of other vector species reared on the same conventional diet.