Division of Medical Zoology, Department of Infection and Immunity, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, 329-0498, Japan.
Parasit Vectors. 2023 Aug 31;16(1):310. doi: 10.1186/s13071-023-05939-2.
Blood-sucking phlebotomine sand flies are vectors of the protozoan parasites Leishmania spp. Although the intestinal microbiota is involved in a wide range of biological and physiological processes and has the potential to alter vector competence, little is known about the factors that modify the gut microbiota composition of sand flies. As a key step toward addressing this issue, we investigated the impact of host species on the gut bacterial composition in Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia sand flies reared under the same conditions.
Bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplification and Illumina MiSeq sequencing were used to characterize the overall bacterial composition of three laboratory-reared sandflies: Phlebotomus papatasi, Ph. duboscqi, and Lutzomyia longipalpis.
Our results showed that the larvae of the three sand fly species harbored almost the same microbes but had different relative abundances. Adult Ph. papatasi and Ph. duboscqi revealed similar microbiome compositions, which were distinct from that of adult Lu. longipalpis. Furthermore, we showed that Ph. papatasi and Ph. duboscqi are hosts for different bacterial genera. The experiment was repeated twice to improve accuracy and increase reliability of the data, and the same results were obtained even when a distinct composition of the microbiome among the same species was identified probably because of the use of different larvae food batch.
The present study provides key insights into the role of host species in the gut microbial content of different sand fly species reared under the same conditions, which may influence their susceptibility to Leishmania infection.
吸血沙蝇是原生动物寄生虫利什曼原虫的传播媒介。尽管肠道微生物群参与了广泛的生物学和生理学过程，并具有改变媒介适应性的潜力，但人们对改变沙蝇肠道微生物群组成的因素知之甚少。作为解决这个问题的关键步骤，我们研究了宿主物种对在相同条件下饲养的白蛉和拉氏按蚊沙蝇肠道细菌组成的影响。
使用细菌 16S rRNA 基因扩增和 Illumina MiSeq 测序来描述三种实验室饲养的沙蝇的总体细菌组成：埃及伊蚊、白蛉和拉氏按蚊。
我们的结果表明，三种沙蝇幼虫携带的微生物几乎相同，但相对丰度不同。成年埃及伊蚊和白蛉的微生物组组成相似，与成年拉氏按蚊的微生物组组成不同。此外，我们表明埃及伊蚊和白蛉是不同细菌属的宿主。该实验重复了两次，以提高数据的准确性和可靠性，即使在同一物种中由于使用不同的幼虫食物批次而确定了不同的微生物组组成，也得到了相同的结果。
本研究提供了关键的见解，了解宿主物种在相同条件下饲养的不同沙蝇物种肠道微生物含量中的作用，这可能影响它们对利什曼原虫感染的易感性。
