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Concerns about spreading non-native invasive plant species have increased in recent decades following their harmful impacts on ecosystems. Their encroachment, aided by survival and reproductive advantages, can negatively impact ecosystems and biodiversity. These effects often lead to larger long-term issues and can be difficult and expensive to manage. Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Herder and L. japonica Thunb. are invasive honeysuckle species that can outcompete, inhibit, and reduce the populations of native species, thus threatening biodiversity in invaded regions. Both species have formed naturalized populations throughout much of the eastern United States, including Oklahoma. Both species reproduce quickly, grow prolifically, face less environmental resistance, and tolerate a wider range of environmental conditions than most native plant species. This study, based on field surveys and herbarium records, presents new information on the distribution of L. maackii and L. japonica in eastern Oklahoma. Surveys were conducted in parks and public recreation areas of all 47 counties of eastern Oklahoma. By combining herbarium data and field surveys, we found that L. maackii occurs in fewer counties than expected and L. japonica is present in nearly all counties surveyed. The results also revealed a strong positive relationship between the presence of L. maackii and the population size of towns. We also found a weak and non-significant relationship between the occurrence of L. maackii and the number of non-native species in a county. 

Mosquitoes transmit medically important human pathogens, including viruses like dengue virus and parasites such asPlasmodiumspp., the causative agent of malaria. Mosquito microbiomes are critically important for the ability of mosquitoes to transmit disease-causing agents. However, while large collections of bacterial isolates and genomic data exist for vertebrate microbiomes, the vast majority of work in mosquitoes to date is based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon data that provides limited taxonomic resolution and no functional information. To address this gap and facilitate future studies using experimental microbiome manipulations, we generated a bacterialMosquito-AssociatedIsolateCollection (MosAIC) consisting of 392 bacterial isolates with extensive metadata and high-quality draft genome assemblies that are publicly available, both isolates and sequence data, for use by the scientific community. MosAIC encompasses 142 species spanning 29 bacterial families, with members of theEnterobacteriaceaecomprising 40% of the collection. Phylogenomic analysis of 3 genera,Enterobacter,Serratia, andElizabethkingia, reveal lineages of mosquito-associated bacteria isolated from different mosquito species in multiple laboratories. Investigation into species’ pangenomes further reveals clusters of genes specific to these lineages, which are of interest for future work to test for functions connected to mosquito host association. Altogether, we describe the generation of a physical collection of mosquito-associated bacterial isolates, their genomic data, and analyses of selected groups in context of genome data from closely related isolates, providing a unique, highly valuable resource for research on bacterial colonisation and adaptation within mosquito hosts. Future efforts will expand the collection to include broader geographic and host species representation, especially from individuals collected from field populations, as well as other mosquito-associated microbes, including fungi, archaea, and protozoa.