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Stability of the wMel Wolbachia Infection following invasion into Aedes aegypti populations.

ABSTRACT: The wMel infection of Drosophila melanogaster was successfully transferred into Aedes aegypti mosquitoes where it has the potential to suppress dengue and other arboviruses. The infection was subsequently spread into two natural populations at Yorkeys Knob and Gordonvale near Cairns, Queensland in 2011. Here we report on the stability of the infection following introduction and we characterize factors influencing the ongoing dynamics of the infection in these two populations. While the Wolbachia infection always remained high and near fixation in both locations, there was a persistent low frequency of uninfected mosquitoes. These uninfected mosquitoes showed weak spatial structure at both release sites although there was some clustering around two areas in Gordonvale. Infected females from both locations showed perfect maternal transmission consistent with patterns previously established pre-release in laboratory tests. After >2 years under field conditions, the infection continued to show complete cytoplasmic incompatibility across multiple gonotrophic cycles but persistent deleterious fitness effects, suggesting that host effects were stable over time. These results point to the stability of Wolbachia infections and their impact on hosts following local invasion, and also highlight the continued persistence of uninfected individuals at a low frequency most likely due to immigration.

SUBMITTER: Hoffmann AA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4161343 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Stability of the wMel Wolbachia Infection following invasion into Aedes aegypti populations.

Hoffmann Ary A AA Iturbe-Ormaetxe Inaki I Callahan Ashley G AG Phillips Ben L BL Billington Katrina K Axford Jason K JK Montgomery Brian B Turley Andrew P AP O'Neill Scott L SL

PLoS neglected tropical diseases 20140911 9

The wMel infection of Drosophila melanogaster was successfully transferred into Aedes aegypti mosquitoes where it has the potential to suppress dengue and other arboviruses. The infection was subsequently spread into two natural populations at Yorkeys Knob and Gordonvale near Cairns, Queensland in 2011. Here we report on the stability of the infection following introduction and we characterize factors influencing the ongoing dynamics of the infection in these two populations. While the Wolbachia ...[more]

PMID: 25211492

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Project description:BackgroundNew approaches to preventing chikungunya virus (CHIKV) are needed because current methods are limited to controlling mosquito populations, and they have not prevented the invasion of this virus into new locales, nor have they been sufficient to control the virus upon arrival. A promising candidate for arbovirus control and prevention relies on the introduction of the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia into Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. This primarily has been proposed as a tool to control dengue virus (DENV) transmission; however, evidence suggests Wolbachia infections confer protection for Ae. aegypti against CHIKV. Although this approach holds much promise for limiting virus transmission, at present our understanding of the ability of CHIKV to infect, disseminate, and be transmitted by wMel-infected Ae. aegypti currently being used at Wolbachia release sites is limited.Methodology/principal findingsUsing Ae. aegypti infected with the wMel strain of Wolbachia that are being released in Medellin, Colombia, we report that these mosquitoes have reduced vector competence for CHIKV, even with extremely high viral titers in the bloodmeal. In addition, we examined the dynamics of CHIKV infection over the course of four to seven days post feeding. Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes remained non-infective over the duration of seven days, i.e., no infectious virus was detected in the saliva when exposed to bloodmeals of moderate viremia, but CHIKV-exposed, wild type mosquitoes did have viral loads in the saliva consistent with what has been reported elsewhere. Finally, the presence of wMel infection had no impact on the lifespan of mosquitoes as compared to wild type mosquitoes following CHIKV infection.Conclusions/significanceThese results could have an impact on vector control strategies in areas where Ae. aegypti are transmitting both DENV and CHIKV; i.e., they argue for further exploration, both in the laboratory and the field, on the feasibility of expanding this technology beyond DENV.

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Stability of the wMel Wolbachia Infection following invasion into Aedes aegypti populations.

Publications

Stability of the wMel Wolbachia Infection following invasion into Aedes aegypti populations.

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