Metagenomic analysis of bacterial and viral communities of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus

BACKGROUND: The complicated relationship between the Aedes mosquito microbiome, arbovirus transmission and essential physiological processes, is extremely important. Microbial community plays a vital role in shaping vector biology, impacting critical aspects such as parasite replication within the vector, vector longevity, and ultimately, vector competence. Understanding the composition and function of the Aedes microbiome is therefore crucial for developing novel strategies to control arboviral diseases. Therefore, we aimed to identify prevalent bacterial and viral communities in Aedes mosquitoes from Pakistan. METHODS: Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus were collected and from three different regions of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Punjab and federal capital Islamabad. We isolated DNA and sequenced two pools of each species and conducted metagenomic analysis, identifying a variety of bacteria and viruses. RESULTS: We found diverse bacterial and viral communities in both studied species. In Ae. aegypti, the most abundant bacterial species was Klebsiella pneumoniae followed by Acinetobacter baylyi. Ae. albopictus presented Pseudomonas putida as the most abundant bacterial species followed by Brevundimonas diminuta. Similarly in Ae. aegypti, we found that Escherichia phage HK639 was the most abundant viral species while in Ae. albopictus, it was Lactobacillus phage 2. It is important to mention that the prevalent viruses in both Aedes species belong to the Siphoviridae genus.