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. 2018 May 11;11(1):295.
doi: 10.1186/s13071-018-2870-0.

A Wolbachia triple-strain infection generates self-incompatibility in Aedes albopictus and transmission instability in Aedes aegypti

Thomas H Ant  1   2   3 , Steven P Sinkins  4   5
Affiliations

A Wolbachia triple-strain infection generates self-incompatibility in Aedes albopictus and transmission instability in Aedes aegypti

Thomas H Ant et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Background: Artificially-introduced transinfections of the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia pipientis have the potential to reduce the vectorial capacity of mosquito populations for viruses such as dengue and chikungunya. Aedes albopictus has two native strains of Wolbachia, but their replacement with the non-native wMel strain blocks transmission of both viruses. The pattern of cytoplasmic incompatiiblity generated by wMel with wild-types is bidirectional. Novel-plus-native-strain co-infection is predicted to lead to a more efficient population spread capacity; from a bi-directional to a uni-directional cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) model.

Results: A novel-plus-native-strain triple-infection in Ae. albopictus (wAlbAwAlbBwMel) was generated. Although triple-infected females were fully reproductively viable with uninfected males, they displayed self-incompatibility. qPCR of specific strains in dissected tissues suggested that this may be due to the displacement of one of the native strains (wAlbA) from the ovaries of triple-infected females. When the triple strain infection was transferred into Aedes aegypti it displayed an unexpectedly low level of transmission fidelity of the three strains in this species.

Conclusions: These results suggest that combining Wolbachia strains can lead to co-infection interactions that can affect outcomes of CI and maternal transmission.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti; Aedes albopictus; Cytoplasmic-incompatibility; Population-replacement; Superinfection; Wolbachia.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Densities of Wolbachia in adult Ae. albopictus females, measured by qPCR. Total Wolbachia densities (a) and strain-specific densities (b) in whole adult females. The centre of a box plot shows median Wolbachia density, edges show upper and lower quartiles, and whiskers indicate upper and lower extremes. Dots show values from individual biological replicates
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Strain-specific Wolbachia densities in dissected tissues. Panels show densities in ovaries (a), midguts (b) and salivary glands (c). Each box represents 10 biological replicates, with pools of 5 females or the tissues from 5 females per replicate. The centre of a box plot shows median Wolbachia density, edges show upper and lower quartiles, and whiskers indicate upper and lower extremes. Dots show values from individual biological replicates
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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