Variable effects of transient Wolbachia infections on alphaviruses in Aedes aegypti
Variable effects of transient Wolbachia infections on alphaviruses in Aedes aegypti
Tags: Aedes, Mosquitoes, Vector control, WolbachiaBrittany L. Dodson, Sujit Pujhari, et al., PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2024.
In recent years, wild populations of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in over a dozen countries have been deliberately infected with Wolbachia pipientis (“Wolbachia”); an intracellular bacterium that, in some circumstances, helps to curb the spread of mosquito-borne pathogens including dengue virus. But how does Wolbachia affect the ability of mosquitoes to become infected with and spread the many different viruses they encounter in nature? Here, we use transient somatic infections in Aedes aegypti to characterize the effects of Wolbachia on three different alphaviruses that cause illness in humans: Sindbis virus, O’nyong-nyong virus, and Mayaro virus. We find that transient Wolbachia infections have variable effects on these different pathogens, ranging from significant suppression of Mayaro virus to significant enhancement of Sindbis virus. Our research has important implications for the design of vector control strategies, and suggests further research is needed to understand how Wolbachia shapes the replication and transmission of diverse viruses in mosquitoes.
