Endobacteria in the mosquito symbiont yeast Wickerhamomyces anomalus

It is reported that bacteria use yeast as a niche for survival in stressful conditions, so these yeasts act as temporary or permanent bacterial reservoirs. We have uncovered the endobacteria of Wickerhamomyces anomalus, an osmotolerant yeast associated with sugar sources and insects such as mosquitoes. Metagenomics analyses by 16S Next Generation Sequencing of W. anomalus strains associated with the mosquito vectors Anopheles stephensi, An. gambiae, Aedes albopictus, Ae. aegypti and Culex pipiens have revealed several genera of bacteria, already described as components of bacterial flora inhabiting the mosquito gut. This finding opens new insights into the ecological interactions between mosquitoes and their gut microbiota with possible implications for pathogens transmission.