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Microbiome reduction prevents lipid accumulation during early diapause in the northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens pipiens
- Award ID(s):
- 1654417
- PAR ID:
- 10330658
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Insect Physiology
- Volume:
- 134
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 0022-1910
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 104295
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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null (Ed.)Abstract Background The bacterial communities associated with mosquito eggs are an essential component of the mosquito microbiota, yet there are few studies characterizing and comparing the microbiota of mosquito eggs to other host tissues. Methods We sampled gravid female Culex pipiens L. and Culex restuans Theobald from the field, allowed them to oviposit in the laboratory, and characterized the bacterial communities associated with their egg rafts and midguts for comparison through MiSeq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Results Bacterial richness was higher in egg rafts than in midguts for both species, and higher in Cx pipiens than Cx. restuans . The midgut samples of Cx. pipiens and Cx. restuans were dominated by Providencia. Culex pipiens and Cx. restuans egg rafts samples were dominated by Ralstonia and Novosphingobium , respectively. NMDS ordination based on Bray-Curtis distance matrix revealed that egg-raft samples, or midgut tissues harbored similar bacterial communities regardless of the mosquito species. Within each mosquito species, there was a distinct clustering of bacterial communities between egg raft and midgut tissues. Conclusion These findings expand the list of described bacterial communities associated with Cx. pipiens and Cx. restuan s and the additional characterization of the egg raft bacterial communities facilitates comparative analysis of mosquito host tissues, providing a basis for future studies seeking to understand any functional role of the bacterial communities in mosquito biology.more » « less
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null (Ed.)Species interactions that influence the performance of the exotic mosquito Culex pipiens can have important effects on the transmission risk of West Nile virus (WNV). Invasive plants that alter the vegetation communities of ephemeral ground pools may facilitate or resist the spread of C. pipiens (L.) by altering allochthonous inputs of detritus in those pools. To test this hypothesis, we combined field surveys of roadside stormwater ditches with a laboratory microcosm experiment to examine relationships between C. pipiens performance and water quality in systems containing detritus from invasive Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. Ex Steud., introduced Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort., or native Juncus effusus L. or Typha latifolia L. In ditches, C. pipiens abundance was unrelated to detritus species but female C. pipiens were significantly larger from ditches with S. arundinaceus and smaller with J. effusus. Larger and smaller C. pipiens were also produced in microcosms provisioned with S. arundinaceus and J. effusus, respectively, yet the per capita rate of population of change did not vary. Larger females from habitats with S. arundinaceus were likely caused by faster decay rates of S. arundinaceus and resultant increases in microbial food, but lower survival as a result of fouling and higher tannin-lignin concentrations resulted in little changes to overall population performance. Larger female mosquitoes have been shown to have greater potential for transmitting arboviruses. Our findings suggest that changed community-level interactions from plant invasions in urban ephemeral ground pools can affect the fitness of C. pipiens and possibly increase WNV risk.more » « less
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2021.104295
