Indicator bacteria taxa reveal breeding site origins of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

The microbiota of adult mosquitoes reflects both their life history and the environments they encounter. Linking specific bacterial communities in adult mosquitoes to their larval aquatic habitats would suggest that microbiota profiling can serve as a tool to identify the breeding site origins of mosquitoes. We investigated whether specific OTUs within the microbiota of female Aedes aegypti could serve as reliable indicators of their larval habitats, thereby identifying the breeding environments from which adult mosquitoes emerged. Indicator species analysis on a previously published dataset of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes collected from six different types of breeding sites in Puerto Rico revealed significant differences in microbial communities among mosquitoes emerging from distinct aquatic habitats. Specific OTUs showed high specificity and fidelity to their respective breeding sites. This included members of the families Erysipelotrichaceae and Cytophagaceae in mosquitoes from plastic buckets, Burkholderiaceae and Clostridiaceae in mosquitoes from trash cans, Actinomycetaceae in mosquitoes from discarded tires, Microbacteriaceae in mosquitoes from septic tanks, and Enterobacteriaceae in mosquitoes from tree holes. These findings suggest that the microbiota of adult mosquitoes retains markers of their larval habitats, which could be used to trace their origins and inform targeted mosquito control efforts.