Predaceous Toxorhynchites mosquitoes require a living gut microbiota to develop

Most species of mosquitoes are detritivores that feed on decaying plant and animal materials in their aquatic environment. Studies of several detritivorous mosquito species indicate they host relatively low diversity communities of microbes that are acquired from the environment while feeding. Our recent results also indicate that detritivorous species require a living gut microbiota in order to grow beyond the first instar. Less well known is that some mosquitoes, including those belonging to the genus Toxorhynchites, are predators that feed on other species of mosquitoes and other nektonic prey. In this study, we asked whether predaceous Toxorhynchites amboinensis larvae still require living microbes in their gut in order to develop. Using the detritivorous mosquito Aedes aegypti as prey, we found that T. amboinensis larvae harbour bacterial communities that are highly similar to that of their prey. Functional assays showed that T. amboinensis first instars provided axenic (i.e. bacte...

绝大多数蚊类物种为食碎屑生物（detritivore），以其水生环境中的动植物腐解物质为食。针对数种食碎屑性蚊类的研究显示，这类蚊虫会在取食过程中从环境中获取微生物，并拥有多样性相对较低的微生物群落。我们近期的研究结果同样表明，食碎屑性蚊类需要拥有存活的肠道微生物群（gut microbiota），才能完成从一龄幼虫阶段的生长发育。鲜为人知的是，部分蚊类（包括隶属于巨蚊属（Toxorhynchites）的物种）为捕食性昆虫，以其他蚊类及其他自游类猎物为食。本研究旨在探究：捕食性的安汶巨蚊（Toxorhynchites amboinensis）幼虫是否仍需要肠道内存活的微生物，才能完成生长发育。本研究以食碎屑性蚊类埃及伊蚊（Aedes aegypti）作为捕食猎物，结果发现安汶巨蚊幼虫所携带的细菌群落，与其猎物的细菌群落高度相似。功能实验结果显示，当向安汶巨蚊一龄幼虫提供无菌（axenic，即无细菌）的……