Toward the definition of Aedes albopictus and Aedes koreicus pathobioma from an area of recent invasion in northern Italy

Abstract

Aedes mosquitoes are considered highly successful invasive species globally. They are also vectors of several viruses of medical importance. As other species, they host a community of bacteria in their midgut, which can play an important role in affecting their fitness, physiology, food digestion, metabolism, immunity, adaptation to new environmental conditions including the capacity to transmit pathogens. Using a metagenomic approach we characterized the microbial community of two mosquito species of medical relevance: Aedes albopictus and Aedes koreicus. Using high‐throughput sequencing we analysed the v3‐v4 hypervariable region of 16s rRNA of the midgut from 30 non‐fed Ae. albopictus females and 30 non‐fed Ae. koreicus females from the Province of Trento. Alpha and beta diversity indices were used to assess the diversity and richness of bacterial communities in both mosquito species and the differences among countries. The two species showed a large core microbiota, including 75.98% of the identified Operational Taxonomic Units, largely composed by species of the genus Pseudomonas, suggesting a common developmental environment. Notably Wolbachia, an intracellular endosymbiont of mosquitoes known to modulate their ability to transmit many pathogens, was present in Ae. albopictus (0.1%) but not in Ae. koreicus, while Asaia spp. was found mainly in Ae. koreicus (14.42%) and in very low proportions in Ae. albopictus (0.07%). In conclusion, assessing the composition and diversity of invasive mosquito species gut microbiota provides the basis for the development of further research studies aimed at characterizing the effect of environmental conditions on vectorial capacity and therefore the actual disease hazard within a new habitat