Influence of Host Blood Meal Source on Gut Microbiota of Wild Caught Aedes aegypti, a Dominant Arboviral Disease Vector

Abstract

Blood feeding is an important behavior of Aedes aegypti, a dominant arboviral disease vector, as it can establish and transmit viruses to humans. Bacteria associated with the mosquito gut can modulate the biological characteristics and behavior of disease vectors. In this study, we characterized the gut microbiota composition of human-blood-fed (HF), non-human-blood-fed (NHF) and non-fed (NF) field-collected Ae. aegypti mosquitoes, using a 16S metagenomic approach, to assess any association of bacterial taxa with the blood-feeding behavior of Ae. aegypti. A significant difference in the microbiota composition between the HF and NF mosquito group was observed. A significant association was observed in the relative abundance of families Rhodobacteraceae, Neisseriaceae and Dermacoccaceae in the HF group in contrast to NF and NHF Ae. aegypti mosquitoes, respectively. At the class level, two classes (Rhodobacterales and Neisseriales) were found to be in higher abundance in the HF mosquitoes compared to a single class of bacteria (Caulobacterales) in the NF mosquitoes. These results show that human-blood feeding may change the gut microbiota in wild Ae. aegypti populations. More research is needed to determine how changes in the midgut bacterial communities in response to human-blood-feeding affect the vectorial capacity of Ae. aegypti.

Revealing the microbiome diversity and biocontrol potential of field Aedes ssp.: Implications for disease vector management

“…The observed taxonomic diversity between female samples corresponds to distinct metabolic gene patterns. It is documented that adults’ microbiomes resemble those of pupae upon emergence; however, the microbiome undergoes a complete transformation after the first feeding and can be shaped by different blood meal sources or the elapsed time post-blood ingestion [ 5 , 65 , 66 ]. The microbiome of adult mosquitoes is molded by the accessibility of varied food sources, such as differences in nectar and blood [ 10 ].…”

Gut Bacterial Diversity of Field and Laboratory-Reared Aedes albopictus Populations of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…Diet and blood sources affect gut microbiota diversity [ 92 ]: field-collected Ae. aegypti fed on human blood showed a greater diversity and richness in their microbiota compared to those that fed on non-human blood sources or were non-blood fed [ 93 ]. Moreover, we do not know the age of the wild mosquitoes, while the laboratory-reared specimens were processed at 6–7 days old.…”

A tangled threesome: understanding arbovirus infection in Aedes spp. and the effect of the mosquito microbiota

“…The microbiota composition varies depending on the sex of the mosquito, developmental stage, larvae diet, blood source, ecology, geographical location, temperature, mosquito genetics, and metabolism (Minard et al, 2018 ; Parry et al, 2018 ; Bogale et al, 2020 ; Onyango et al, 2020 ; MacLeod et al, 2021 ; Pérez-Ramos et al, 2022 ; Sarma et al, 2022 ; Ratnayake et al, 2023 ; Rodpai et al, 2023 ). Water microbiota composition is also influenced by larval feces and the egestion of microorganisms by females during oviposition (Guégan et al, 2018 ; Scolari et al, 2019 , 2021 ).…”

“…Bacterial composition in adults are an important part of midgut microbiota with specific and common bacteria genera composition ( Supplementary Figure 1 ) (Yadav et al, 2015 ; Raharimalala et al, 2016 ; Dickson et al, 2018 ; Hegde et al, 2018 ; Rosso et al, 2018 ; Thongsripong et al, 2018 ; Bennett et al, 2019 ; Arévalo-Cortés et al, 2020 ; Molina-Henao et al, 2020 ; Ramos-Nino et al, 2020 ; Seabourn et al, 2020 ; Balaji et al, 2021 ; Díaz et al, 2021 ; Lin et al, 2021 ; Scolari et al, 2021 ; Rau et al, 2022 ; Sarma et al, 2022 ; Al-Ghamdi et al, 2023 ; Baltar et al, 2023 ; Martinez Villegas et al, 2023 ; Mosso González et al, 2023 ; Rodpai et al, 2023 ). Wolbachia is the most characterized bacteria in Aedes mosquitos ( Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Figure 1 ) (Kitrayapong et al, 2002 ; Ravikumar et al, 2010 ; Tortosa et al, 2010 ; de Albuquerque et al, 2011 ; Wiwatanaratanabutr, 2013 ; Joanne et al, 2015 ; Noor Afizah et al, 2015 ; Raharimalala et al, 2016 ; Ahmad et al, 2017 ; Nugapola et al, 2017 ; Soni et al, 2017 ; Chuchuy et al, 2018 ; Goindin et al, 2018 ; Hegde et al, 2018 ; Thongsripong et al, 2018 ; Anderson et al, 2019 ; Balaji et al, 2019 ; Carvajal et al, 2019 ; Kulkarni et al, 2019 ; Mohanty et al, 2019 ; Shaikevich et al, 2019 ; Ding et al, 2020 ; Hu et al, 2020 ; Puerta-Guardo et al, 2020 ; Torres-Monzón et al, 2020 ; Lin et al, 2021 ; Duque-G...…”