Factors shaping the gut bacterial community assembly in two main Colombian malaria vectors

Abstract

Background: The understanding of the roles of gut bacteria in the fitness and vectorial capacity of mosquitoes that transmit malaria, is improving; however, the factors shaping the composition and structure of such bacterial communities remain elusive. In this study, a high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing was conducted to understand the effect of developmental stage, feeding status, species, and geography on the composition of the gut bacterial microbiota of two main Colombian malaria vectors, Anopheles nuneztovari and Anopheles darlingi. Results: The results revealed that mosquito developmental stage, followed by geographical location, are more important determinants of the gut bacterial composition than mosquito species or adult feeding status. Further, they showed that mosquito gut is a major filter for environmental bacteria colonization. Conclusions: The sampling design and analytical approach of this study allowed to untangle the influence of factors that are simultaneously shaping the microbiota composition of two Latin-American malaria vectors, essential aspect for the design of vector biocontrol strategies.