Aedes aegypti mosquito are primary vector of many arboviral diseases such as yellow fever, dengue fever and Zika, which is a major global health problem. Ae. aegypti mainly grows in man-made reservoirs filled with water in urban areas where immature stages (larvae) feed on aquatic microorganisms. It is known that bacterial taxa in laboratory breeding sites influence the development and ability of the female mosquito to transmit pathogens to humans (Dickon et al, 2017). Under natural conditions, variability of Ae. aegypti-associated bacteria may trigger a differential influence on adult mosquito phenotypic traits such as survival and vector competence, so their characterization is of major interest for vector control.
Our project attempts to identify natural bacterial communities associated to contrasted water breeding sites, fourth-instar larvae, non-infected and virus infected Ae. aegypti females reared in these breeding sites to determine the relationship between Aedes aegypti natural microbiota and vector competence for Dengue virus and Zika virus.
The samples we would like to sequence are bacterial DNA extracted from water, larvae and adults Ae. aegypti mosquitoes from natural breeding site collected in Guadeloupe, French West Indies.
