Wolbachia: Can we save lives with a great pandemic?

Abstract

Wolbachia pipientis is the most common bacterial infection in the animal world and wields a vast influence on invertebrate reproduction, sex determination, speciation, and behavior worldwide. These avenues of research have made seminal gains, including the latest use of Wolbachia to alter mosquito populations and a strengthened focus on using anti-Wolbachia therapies against filarial nematode infections. This work is further bolstered by a more refined knowledge of Wolbachia biology spanning mechanisms to relevance. Here we tally the most up-to-date knowledge in the field and review the immense implications that this global infection has for the basic and applied life sciences.

Keywords: Wolbachia pipientis; filarial disease; vector control.

Figure 1. Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility

Wolbachia (W, purple) infection causes a modification in the sperm that can be rescued by eggs of infected females but leads to embryonic death in uninfected embryos. Abbreviations: W−, Wolbachia-uninfected; W+, Wolbachia-infected; W modified, Wolbachia-modified sperm. Illustration by Robert M. Brucker.

Figure 2. Vector control strategies

(A) Population Replacement Strategy switches a wild population of mosquitoes (pathogen carrying, Wolbachia uninfected) with a pathogen-free one through Wolbachia-induced CI. (B) In the Incompatible Insect Technique, a release of just Wolbachia infected males leads to high levels of CI and a reduction in the total vector population. Abbreviations: W−, Wolbachia-uninfected; W+, Wolbachia-infected; Pathogen+, pathogen-infected; Pathogen-, pathogen-uninfected. Illustration by Robert M. Brucker.

Figure 3. Elimination of filarial nematodes

Diseases such as river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, traditionally treated with anti-filarial medications, could benefit from anti-Wolbachia approaches that target the host-bacterial symbiosis. Illustration by Robert M. Brucker.