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Wolbachia transinfections in Culex quinquefasciatus generate cytoplasmic incompatibility
Author(s) -
Ant T. H.,
Herd C.,
Louis F.,
Failloux A. B.,
Sinkins S. P.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
insect molecular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.955
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2583
pISSN - 0962-1075
DOI - 10.1111/imb.12604
Subject(s) - biology , cytoplasmic incompatibility , wolbachia , culex quinquefasciatus , aedes albopictus , superinfection , virology , population , culex , vector (molecular biology) , pathogen , transmission (telecommunications) , microbiology and biotechnology , host (biology) , genetics , virus , gene , ecology , larva , aedes aegypti , recombinant dna , electrical engineering , engineering , sociology , demography
Culex quinquefasciatus is an important mosquito vector of a number of viral and protozoan pathogens of humans and animals, and naturally carries the endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis , strain w Pip. Wolbachia are used in two distinct vector control strategies: firstly, population suppression caused by mating incompatibilities between mass‐released transinfected males and wild females; and secondly, the spread of pathogen transmission‐blocking strains through populations. Using embryonic microinjection, two novel Wolbachia transinfections were generated in C. quinquefasciatus using strains native to the mosquito Aedes albopictus : a w AlbB single infection, and a w Pip plus w AlbA superinfection. The w AlbB infection showed full bidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) with wild‐type C. quinquefasciatus in reciprocal crosses. The w Pip w AlbA superinfection showed complete unidirectional CI, and therefore population invasion potential. Whereas the w AlbB strain showed comparatively low overall densities, similar to the native w Pip, the w Pip w AlbA superinfection reached over 400‐fold higher densities in the salivary glands compared to the native w Pip, suggesting it may be a candidate for pathogen transmission blocking.