Role of the Gut Microbiome in Mosquito Development

描述（由申请人提供）：蚊子是公认的最重要的致病病原体的节肢动物媒介。因此，研究可能破坏蚊子发育或疾病传播的过程具有生物医学意义。该申请是基于最近的研究结果提出的重新提交请求，该研究结果表明，埃及伊蚊和其他蚊子的肠道微生物群对发育至关重要。人们早就知道肠道是细菌的庇护所，但这些微生物在蚊子生物学中所起的作用在很大程度上是不清楚的。在这里，我们报告的初步数据表明，埃及伊蚊消化道中的细菌群落相对简单，但在发育过程中也表现出明显的变化。我们的研究结果进一步表明，无细菌（无菌）埃及伊蚊不能发展，而肠道的几个肠道群落成员和非群落成员的大肠杆菌救援发展的重新定殖。与其他物种的比较数据也得出了类似的结果，这有力地表明，大多数（如果不是全部的话）蚊子的发育依赖于它们的肠道微生物群，这是一种基本的、但迄今为止尚未被认识到的依赖。最近的研究确定了细菌基因在发育拯救中的作用，并深入了解了细菌如何影响蚊子的生理。为了进一步推进这些成果，我们提出了三个具体目标。1. 完整的表征肠道微生物群在我们的实验室培养的Ae。选取埃及伊蚊和其他蚊种，并对野外采集的蚊种进行平行实验。2. 进一步表征拯救蚊子发育缺陷的大肠杆菌突变体。3. 分析细菌如何影响蚊子的生理机能。我们工作的预期结果将加强对蚊子肠道微生物群及其功能的了解。我们的研究将通过提供关于肠道微生物在蚊子发育中所起的很大程度上未知但至关重要的作用的信息，影响媒介生物学领域。我们的研究还将为控制蚊子的发育作为媒介控制策略提供潜在的重要信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Mosquitoes are well recognized as the most important arthropod vectors of disease-causing pathogens. Thus, studies on processes with potential to disrupt mosquito development or disease transmission are of biomedical importance. This application is a resubmission request to build on recent results showing that the gut micro biota of Aedes aegypti and other mosquito species are essential for development. It has long been known that the gut harbors bacteria but the role these microbes play in mosquito biology is largely unclear. Here we report preliminary data showing that the community of bacteria in the digestive tract of the mosquito Aedes aegypti is relatively simple but also exhibits distinct changes during development. Our results further show that bacteria-free (axenic) Aedes aegypti cannot develop, while recolonization of the gut by several gut community members and the non-community member Escherichia coli rescue development. Comparative data with other species yield similar results, which strongly suggests a fundamental, but heretofore unrecognized, dependence by most if not all mosquitoes on their gut microbiome for development. Recent studies identify bacterial genes with roles in developmental rescue as well as insights into how bacteria affect mosquito physiology. To further advance these results, we propose three specific aims. 1. Complete characterization of the gut micro biota in our laboratory cultures of Ae. aegypti and select other species, and conduct parallel experiments in field collected mosquitoes. 2. Further characterize E. coli mutants defective in rescuing mosquito development. 3. Analyze how bacteria affect mosquito physiology. Expected outcomes of our work will enhance understanding of the mosquito gut microbiome and its functions. Our study will impact the field of vector biology by providing information on the largely unknown but critical role gut microbes play in mosquito development. Our study will also provide information of potential importance in manipulating mosquito development as a strategy for vector control.