Spatio-temporal factors shape mosquito virome diversity and composition in a host and virus phylogeny-dependent manner

Mosquito-borne viruses invade and transiently participate in the virus communities of their vector hosts to complete their dual-host transmission cycles. Within the mosquito, they are entangled in complex interactions with resident viruses that may affect transmission outcomes by the mosquito host and can therefore contribute towards arbovirus emergence risk. Mosquito viromes have been reported to be highly diverse and dynamic, under the influence of host and ecological factors. However, the spatio-temporal flux in virome compositions remains to be understood due to the lack of longitudinal data. Here, we sought to identify and quantify the relative importance of the host and ecological factors that influence virome diversity and composition from 15 mosquito species across time and narrow- or broad-scale biogeographies. We found that host species is the strongest determinant of virome diversity, whereas the influence of ecological factors on virome distribution vary across host species and virus family. In addition, we observed that closely related virus species are occasionally associated with closely related mosquito species. Our findings therefore highlight the importance of considering the ecological and evolutionary forces of virome dynamics and connectivity in terms of its taxonomic constituents instead of a single entity.