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. 2009 Sep 15;3(9):e516.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000516.

Wolbachia infection reduces blood-feeding success in the dengue fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti

Andrew P Turley  1 , Luciano A Moreira, Scott L O'Neill, Elizabeth A McGraw
Affiliations

Wolbachia infection reduces blood-feeding success in the dengue fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti

Andrew P Turley et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

Abstract

Background: The mosquito Aedes aegypti was recently transinfected with a life-shortening strain of the endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis (wMelPop) as the first step in developing a biocontrol strategy for dengue virus transmission. In addition to life-shortening, the wMelPop-infected mosquitoes also exhibit increased daytime activity and metabolic rates. Here we sought to quantify the blood-feeding behaviour of Wolbachia-infected females as an indicator of any virulence or energetic drain associated with Wolbachia infection.

Methodology/principal findings: In a series of blood-feeding trials in response to humans, we have shown that Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes do not differ in their response time to humans, but that as they age they obtain fewer and smaller blood meals than Wolbachia-uninfected controls. Lastly, we observed a behavioural characteristic in the Wolbachia infected mosquitoes best described as a "bendy" proboscis that may explain the decreased biting success.

Conclusions/significance: Taken together the evidence suggests that wMelPop infection may be causing tissue damage in a manner that intensifies with mosquito age and that leads to reduced blood-feeding success. These behavioural changes require further investigation with respect to a possible physiological mechanism and their role in vectorial capacity of the insect. The selective decrease of feeding success in older mosquitoes may act synergistically with other Wolbachia-associated traits including life-shortening and viral protection in biocontrol strategies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Time until first attempted bite.
Bars represent means±sem from individual trials. No significant differences were observed between infected and uninfected mosquitoes for any of the ages. N = 31–33 per treatment.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Number of attempted bites.
Bars represent means±sem from population trials. *P<0.05, **P<0.001 by t-test. N = 117–120 per treatment.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Weight of imbibed blood meal.
Bars represent means±sem from individual trials. *P<0.05, **P<0.001 by t-test. N = 31–33 per treatment.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Proportion of the population that imbibed a blood meal.
Bars represent medians ±25% and 75% quartile values from population trials. **P<0.001 by Mann Whitney-U test. N = 117–120 per treatment.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Abnormal biting behaviour in old wMelPop infected mosquitoes.
Successful (A) and unsuccessful (B) probe by A. aegypti mosquitoes. In A. the proboscis of this wMelPop-infected mosquito is bending as it thrusts its head towards the volunteer's skin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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