Anopheles stephensi and transgenic mosquitoes 16S profiling Targeted locus Metagenome. mosquito metagenome

The goal of this project focused on comparing the composition of the midgut and the ovary microbiome between the wild type Anopheles stephensi strain and the genetically modified strains CpRel2-15 and VgRel2-1. These strains (A. stephensi WT, CpRel2-15, and VgRel2-1) differ in their vector competence for Plasmodium infection and genetically modified mosquitoes with increased immune activity in the midgut tissue showed reduced microbial loads in both the midgut and reproductive organs. The bacterial diversity of the midgut and ovary differs in the WT strain and genetically modified mosquitoes. These changes lead to a mating bias that favors the genetically modified mosquitoes.