Using Wolbachia to Eliminate Dengue: Will the Virus Fight Back?
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M. Edenborough Kathryn, A. Flores Heather, P. Simmons Cameron, E. Fraser Johanna and C. Pierson Ted,
Journal of Virology,
95:e02203-20.
2021.
Recent field trials have demonstrated that dengue incidence can be substantially reduced by introgressing strains of the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia into Aedes aegypti mosquito populations. This strategy relies on Wolbachia reducing the susceptibility of Ae. aegypti to disseminated infection by positive-sense RNA viruses like dengue. However, RNA viruses are well known to adapt to antiviral pressures. Here, we review the viral infection stages where selection for Wolbachia-resistant virus variants could occur. We also consider the genetic constraints imposed on viruses that alternate between vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, and the likely selection pressures to which dengue virus might adapt in order to be effectively transmitted by Ae. aegypti that carry Wolbachia. While there are hurdles to dengue viruses developing resistance to Wolbachia, we suggest that long-term surveillance for resistant viruses should be an integral component of Wolbachia-introgression biocontrol programs. More related to this: Wolbachia as a possible means of driving genes into populations How to fight the deadly dengue virus? Make your own mosquitoes US to Use Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Fight Dengue Fever Florida Keys to Use Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Fight Disease
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