Open AccessA diagnostic primer pair to distinguish between wMel and wAlbB Wolbachia infections
Author(s) -
Meng-Jia Lau,
Ary A. Hoffmann,
Nancy M. EndersbyHarshman
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0257781
Subject(s) - wolbachia , primer (cosmetics) , aedes aegypti , biology , polymerase chain reaction , virology , dengue fever , genetics , gene , ecology , chemistry , organic chemistry , larva
Detection of the Wolbachia endosymbiont in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes through real-time polymerase chain reaction assays is widely used during and after Wolbachia releases in dengue reduction trials involving the w Mel and w AlbB strains. Although several different primer pairs have been applied in current successful Wolbachia releases, they cannot be used in a single assay to distinguish between these strains. Here, we developed a new diagnostic primer pair, wMwA , which can detect the w Mel or w AlbB infection in the same assay. We also tested current Wolbachia primers and show that there is variation in their performance when they are used to assess the relative density of Wolbachia . The new wMwA primers provide an accurate and efficient estimate of the presence and density of both Wolbachia infections, with practical implications for Wolbachia estimates in field collected Ae . aegypti where Wolbachia releases have taken place.