Aedes albopictus L4 larval mycobiota study

The gut microbiota in mosquito larvae and adults impacts several mosquito traits, including physiology and vector competence. Knowledge of mosquito-fungus interactions is mostly confined to entomopathogens, due to their potential for biological control of mosquitoes. However, mosquito larvae encounter a myriad of fungi in the environment. The contribution of these encounters on the mosquito larval mycobiota remains largely unclear. We report the mycobiota composition of field-collected Aedes albopictus L4 larvae, and we determine the drivers of its composition and assembly. Sequence analysis of fungal ITS2 gene amplicon shows that the mycobiota of mosquito larvae were distinct across collection sites, identifying the environment as a major driver of mycobiota composition. In addition, the mosquito mycobiota within a collection site was distinct between mosquito guts and carcasses, identifying the contribution of mosquito and fungal ecology to differential mycobiota composition in mosquito tissues. Together, this study provides a first glimpse at the diversity of the mycobiota associated with Ae. albopictus larvae whose composition is mostly driven by the environment as well as mosquito and fungal ecology.