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EGG‑LAYING BY FEMALE AEDES AEGYPTI SHAPES THE BACTERIAL COMMUNITIES OF BREEDING SITES
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Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Grupo de Comportamento Vetorial e Interação com Patógenos. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, 2001 Fyffe Rd., Room 232 Howlett Hall, Columbus, OH 43210, USA / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Vetores de Mosquito: Grupo de Interações de Endossimbiontes e Patógeno-Vetor. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou / Biossistemas Informática. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Mosquitos Transmissores de hematiozoários. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Mosquitos Transmissores de hematiozoários. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Vetores de Mosquito: Grupo de Interações de Endossimbiontes e Patógeno-Vetor. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Grupo de Comportamento Vetorial e Interação com Patógenos. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, 2001 Fyffe Rd., Room 232 Howlett Hall, Columbus, OH 43210, USA / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Vetores de Mosquito: Grupo de Interações de Endossimbiontes e Patógeno-Vetor. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou / Biossistemas Informática. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Mosquitos Transmissores de hematiozoários. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Mosquitos Transmissores de hematiozoários. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Vetores de Mosquito: Grupo de Interações de Endossimbiontes e Patógeno-Vetor. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Grupo de Comportamento Vetorial e Interação com Patógenos. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Abstract
Background Aedes aegypti, the main arboviral mosquito vector, is attracted to human dwellings and makes use of
human-generated breeding sites. Past research has shown that bacterial communities associated with such sites
undergo compositional shifts as larvae develop and that exposure to different bacteria during larval stages can have
an impact on mosquito development and life-history traits. Based on these facts, we hypothesized that female Ae.
aegypti shape the bacteria communities of breeding sites during oviposition as a form of niche construction to favor
offspring fitness.
Results To test this hypothesis, we first verified that gravid females can act as mechanical vectors of bacteria. We
then elaborated an experimental scheme to test the impact of oviposition on breeding site microbiota. Five different
groups of experimental breeding sites were set up with a sterile aqueous solution of larval food, and subsequently
exposed to (1) the environment alone, (2) surface-sterilized eggs, (3) unsterilized eggs, (4) a non-egg laying female, or
(5) oviposition by a gravid female. The microbiota of these differently treated sites was assessed by amplicon-oriented
DNA sequencing once the larvae from the sites with eggs had completed development and formed pupae. Microbial
ecology analyses revealed significant differences between the five treatments in terms of diversity. In particular,
between-treatment shifts in abundance profiles were detected, showing that females induce a significant decrease
in microbial alpha diversity through oviposition. In addition, indicator species analysis pinpointed bacterial taxa with
significant predicting values and fidelity coefficients for the samples in which single females laid eggs. Furthermore,
we provide evidence regarding how one of these indicator taxa, Elizabethkingia, exerts a positive effect on the development
and fitness of mosquito larvae.
Conclusions Ovipositing females impact the composition of the microbial community associated with a breeding
site, promoting certain bacterial taxa over those prevailing in the environment. Among these bacteria, we found
known mosquito symbionts and showed that they can improve offspring fitness if present in the water where eggs
are laid. We deem this oviposition-mediated bacterial community shaping as a form of niche construction initiated by
the gravid female.
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