MYCOLab Ai Logo - gold and army green

Fungal communities in Florida salt marsh mosquito midguts vary between species and over time but have low structure

Summary

Researchers studied the fungi living in the guts of three types of Florida salt marsh mosquitoes. They found that all mosquitoes carried high amounts of a common environmental yeast called Rhodotorula lamellibrachiae. The type of mosquito species mattered more than the time of year for determining which fungi were present. Unlike bacterial communities in mosquitoes, the fungal communities appeared to assemble somewhat randomly rather than following organized patterns.

Background

Microorganisms associated with mosquitoes influence their development, reproductive success, insecticide resistance, and ability to transmit pathogens. While bacterial microbiota has been extensively studied, fungal communities in mosquitoes have been largely overlooked despite their potential roles in modulating mosquito-pathogen interactions and serving as biopesticides.

Objective

This study aimed to characterize the midgut mycobiota of field-collected adult mosquitoes from three species (Aedes taeniorhynchus, Anopheles atropos, and Culex nigripalpus) collected at two different times to understand how fungal communities vary between species and over time.

Results

All mosquito specimens carried high loads of Rhodotorula lamellibrachiae, a nitrogen-fixing yeast. Mosquito species had a stronger influence on fungal diversity than collection time, explaining 45.3% versus 3.1% of variation respectively. Few fungal taxa showed high abundance and prevalence, and limited fungal taxa consistently co-associated across time and host species, suggesting stochastic assembly processes.

Conclusion

Fungal communities in natural mosquito populations demonstrate limited structure and are more strongly influenced by host species than environmental factors, contrasting with bacterial microbiota patterns. These findings suggest that ecological factors driving fungal community assembly and their roles in mosquito biology may differ from bacterial communities.
  • Published in:Frontiers in Immunology,
  • Study Type:Field Study,
  • Source: PMC12500438, PMID: 41064004, doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1648091
Scroll to Top