Microbiota variations in disease vector mosquito of West Nile virus and Saint Louis Encephalitis from different geographic origins.

Although mosquito microbiota are known to influence reproduction, nutrition, disease transmission, and pesticide resistance, the relationship between host-associated microbial community composition and geographical location is poorly understood. To begin addressing this knowledge gap, we characterized microbiota associated with adult females of mosquito vectors of Saint Louis Encephalitis and West Nile viruses sampled from three locations in Florida (Vero Beach, Palmetto Inland, and Palmetto Coast). High-throughput sequencing of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes demonstrated significant differences among microbial communities of mosquitoes sampled from the three locations. Mosquitoes from Vero Beach (east coast Florida) were dominated by uncultivated sp. (), whereas microbiota associated with mosquitoes collected from two mosquito populations at Palmetto (west coast Florida) sites were dominated by uncultured (), (), (), uncultured , Candidatus Megaira (; ), and (). The variation in taxonomic profiles of gut microbial communities, especially with respect to dominating taxa, is a potentially critical factor in understanding disease transmission and mosquito susceptibility to insecticides among different mosquito populations.