Bacterial adaptation within the mosquito gut

Insects and other animals harbor intestinal microbial communities that play important roles in their biology. However, the processes underlying how these communities assemble in the gut remain largely unexplored. We aim to identify genetic factors contributing to gut microbiota assembly in the mosquito Aedes aegypti, an insect of significant interest because adult females can transmit Zika, dengue, and other arboviruses that cause severe disease in humans. Here, we present methods for high-throughput screening of environmentally- and mosquito-derived bacterial strains for the ability to colonize and persist in different mosquito hosts and life stages. The implications of this research for our understanding of how specific bacterial strains grant selective advantages to mosquito populations and the identification of bacterial genes that could be manipulated for mosquito-borne disease control are also discussed.