(2nd Place) Microbial community variability between endemic and widespread insects: A case study in Aedes mosquitoes

Invasive species present threats to humans in multiple ways. In particular, invasive mosquitoes have the potential to become not only nuisance pests but also pathogen vectors, leading to increasing ranges of vector-borne diseases. Aedes is a broad genus of mosquitoes that includes species that are among the most widespread and invasive of all animal species as well as species that are endemic to specific regions. While there are several factors that affect where mosquito species breed, one potentially relevant factor is the microbial communities found within the mosquitoes themselves and in their larval development sites. However, it is still unclear how microbial communities vary among species, in particular between endemic and widespread species. We tested the hypothesis that endemic mosquito species will be found with lower microbial (bacterial and fungal) diversity within both their bodies and their larval development sites and will be more similar to each other (lower variability) in microbial community composition than widespread mosquito species. We also hypothesized that we will find a higher number of indicator taxa in sites associated with endemic mosquitoes. During summer 2019, we collected water and larval samples from larval development sites in Columbus, OH where three endemic and three widespread species of Aedes were found. We profiled the microbial communities by sequencing the 16S and ITS regions of the bacteria and fungi found in the samples. Contrary to our hypothesis, our results indicate a higher amount of diversity in and among endemic species than widespread species.