Aedes albopictus mosquitoes host rich and diverse fungal communities

In recent years, many studies have shown the importance of the microbiota in the biology of mosquitoes. Most of them were focused on the bacterial community highlighting their role in diverse functions such as nutrition, protection from pathogens, modulation of immune responses and development. However, composition of mosquito-associated microbial communities is not restricted to bacteria. Mosquitoes also host an ecologically diverse community of microorganisms that remain poorly explored. Fungi potentially provide many beneficial services to the mosquito but are poorly known. Molecular techniques using high-throughput sequencing have been recognized as valuable approaches to describe the composition and structure of bacterial communities associated with mosquitoes. In this study, we used metataxogenomics to characterize the fungal microbiota of three geographically distinct populations of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, an important vector for the transmission of several pathogens. By using the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) as taxonomic marker, we showed that fungal communities are more similar among individuals at the site level than among countries. Mosquito mycobiota was dominated by Ascomycota and contained many genera of yeast as Candida, Aureobasidium, Pichia, Torulaspora, Scheffersomyces and Lachancea. The unsuspected richness and diversity of mosquito-associated mycobiota emphasizes the importance of studying fungal communities in mosquitoes.