AUTHOR=Tainchum Krajana , Dupont Chloé , Chareonviriyaphap Theeraphap , Jumas-Bilak Estelle , Bangs Michael J. , Manguin Sylvie 

TITLE=Bacterial Microbiome in Wild-Caught Anopheles Mosquitoes in Western Thailand

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00965

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.00965

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Among the complex microbial community living in the mosquito midgut, some bacteria (e.g., <italic>Enterobacter</italic> spp.) can deliver effector molecules with anti-<italic>Plasmodium</italic> effects suppressing the development of malaria parasites (<italic>Plasmodium falciparum</italic>) before the öokinete can penetrate the mosquito midgut epithelium. Despite knowledge of this phenomenon, only a few studies have defined the diversity of microbiota in wild-caught adult <italic>Anopheles</italic> species. The objective of this study was to analyze and compare the bacterial microbiota in different <italic>Anopheles</italic> species, including representatives of the primary malaria vectors in western Thailand. Wild female <italic>Anopheles</italic> species were sampled from malaria-endemic areas in Tak and Mae Hong Son provinces near the Thai-Myanmar border. Midgut/abdominal bacterial diversity was assessed by examining the 16S rRNA gene, V3 hypervariable region, using PCR-Temporal Temperature Gel Electrophoresis (PCR-TTGE) profiling and sequence analysis. A total of 24 bacterial genera were identified from eight <italic>Anopheles</italic> species. Five bacterial genera were newly reported in <italic>Anopheles</italic> mosquitoes (<italic>Ferrimonas</italic>, <italic>Megasphaera</italic>, <italic>Pectobacterium</italic>, <italic>Shimwellia</italic>, and <italic>Trabulsiella</italic>). Five genera, including <italic>Megasphaera</italic>, were detected exclusively in a single-malaria (<italic>Plasmodium vivax</italic>) infected <italic>Anopheles minimus</italic> and not observed in other non-infected mosquitoes. The use of PCR-TTGE provides the first characterization of the midgut bacterial microbiome present in wild adult <italic>Anopheles</italic> in Thailand. Evidence that microbiota might impact pathogen development (suppression) in <italic>Anopheles</italic> and thereby reduce the risk of pathogen transmission deserves more studies to describe the presence and better understand the biological role of bacteria in natural mosquito populations.</p>