AUTHOR=Chen Shicheng , Zhao Jiangchao , Joshi Deepak , Xi Zhiyong , Norman Beth , Walker Edward D. 

TITLE=Persistent Infection by Wolbachia wAlbB Has No Effect on Composition of the Gut Microbiota in Adult Female Anopheles stephensi

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01485

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.01485

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>The bacteria in the midgut of <italic>Anopheles stephensi</italic> adult females from laboratory colonies were studied by sequencing the V4 region of 16S rRNA genes, with respect to three experimental factors: stable or cured <italic>Wolbachia</italic> infection; sugar or blood diet; and age. <italic>Proteobacteria</italic> and <italic>Bacteroidetes</italic> dominated the community [&gt;90% of operational taxonomic units (OTUs)]; most taxa were in the classes <italic>Flavobacteriia</italic>, <italic>Gammaproteobacteria</italic>, and <italic>Alphaproteobacteria</italic>, and were assigned to <italic>Elizabethkingia</italic> (46.9%), <italic>Asaia</italic> (6.4%) and <italic>Pseudomonas</italic> (6.0%), or unclassified <italic>Enterobacteriaceae</italic> (37.2%). Bacterial communities were similar between <italic>Wolbachia</italic>-cured and <italic>Wolbachia</italic>-infected mosquito lines, indicating that the gut microbiota were not dysregulated in the presence of <italic>Wolbachia</italic>. The proportion of <italic>Enterobacteriaceae</italic> was higher in mosquitoes fed a blood meal compared to those provided a sugar meal. Collectively, the bacterial community had a similar structure in older <italic>Wolbachia</italic>-infected mosquitoes 8 days after the blood meal, as in younger <italic>Wolbachia</italic>-infected mosquitoes before a blood meal, except that older mosquitoes had a higher proportion of <italic>Enterobacteriaceae</italic> and lower proportion of <italic>Elizabethkingia</italic>. Consistent presence of certain predominant bacteria (<italic>Elizabethkingia</italic>, <italic>Asaia</italic>, <italic>Pseudomonas</italic>, and <italic>Enterobacteriaceae</italic>) suggests they would be useful for paratransgenesis to control malaria infection, particularly when coupled to a <italic>Wolbachia</italic>-based intervention strategy.</p>