ITS profiling of Aedes taeniorhynchus, Anopheles atropos and Culex nigripalpus midguts in Florida
This project sought to assess whether environmental heterogeneities influence the diversity and composition of the mosquito mycobiota. We examined the fungal diversity of natural mosquito populations in a mangrove swamp in Indian River County, Florida, USA, which, in our previous study, demonstrated high levels of bacterial diversity in mosquitoes. We collected adult female mosquitoes during October and then again during the following March. We then sequenced the Internal transcribed spacer gene for mosquito specimens from the midguts of three mosquito species (Aedes taeniorhynchus, Anopheles atropos and Culex nigripalpus) in order to profile fungal communities associated with these mosquitoes. Understanding interactions between mosquitoes and microorganisms is important because they can influence mosuqito fitness and also the ability of mosquitoes to harbor and transmit pathogens of importance to human health.