Wolbachia pipientis occurs in Aedes aegypti populations in New Mexico and Florida, USA. Issue 10 (26th April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kulkarni, Aditi; Yu, Wanqin; Jiang, Jinjin; Sanchez, Concepcion; Karna, Ajit K.; Martinez, Kalli J. L.; Hanley, Kathryn A.; Buenemann, Michaela; Hansen, Immo A.; Xue, Rui‐de; Ettestad, Paul; Melman, Sandra; Duguma, Dagne; Debboun, Mustapha; Xu, Jiannong
• Is Part Of: Ecology and evolution. Volume 9:Issue 10(2019)
• Page Start: 6148
• Page End: 6156
• Publication Date: 2019-04-26
• Subjects: Aedes aegypti -- Aedes albopictus -- Florida -- New Mexico -- Texas -- wAlbB -- Wolbachia; Ecology -- Periodicals; Evolution -- Periodicals; 577.05
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5198
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-7758

Abstract

Abstract: The mosquitoes Aedes aegypti (L.) and Ae . albopictus Skuse are the major vectors of dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya viruses worldwide. Wolbachia, an endosymbiotic bacterium present in many insects, is being utilized in novel vector control strategies to manipulate mosquito life history and vector competence to curb virus transmission. Earlier studies have found that Wolbachia is commonly detected in Ae . albopictus but rarely detected in Ae. aegypti . In this study, we used a two‐step PCR assay to detect Wolbachia in wild‐collected samples of Ae. aegypti . The PCR products were sequenced to validate amplicons and identify Wolbachia strains. A loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed and used for detecting Wolbachia in selected mosquito specimens as well. We found Wolbachia in 85/148 (57.4%) wild Ae. aegypti specimens from various cities in New Mexico, and in 2/46 (4.3%) from St. Augustine, Florida. Wolbachia was not detected in 94 samples of Ae. aegypti from Deer Park, Harris County, Texas. Wolbachia detected in Ae. aegypti from both New Mexico and Florida was the w AlbB strain of Wolbachia pipientis . A Wolbachia ‐positive colony of Ae. aegypti was established from pupae collected in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 2018. The infected females of this strain transmitted Wolbachia to their progeny when crossed with males of Rockefeller strain of Ae. aegypti, which does not carry Wolbachia . In contrast, none of the progeny of Las Cruces males mated to Rockefeller females were infected with Wolbachia . Abstract : Natural infection of Wolbachia was detected in wild populations of Aedes aegypti in New Mexico and Florida, but not in Texas. The Wolbachia was detected by PCR and validated by sequencing. An infected colony has been established in the laboratory, and Wolbachia in the strain was able to be maternally transmitted to progeny.