Persistent deleterious effects of a deleterious < i > Wolbachia < /i > infection

by Perran A. Ross, Jason K. Axford, Ashley G. Callahan, Kelly M. Richardson, Ary A. HoffmannWolbachia are being used to reduce dengue transmission byAedes aegypti mosquitoes around the world. To date releases have mostly involvedWolbachia strains with limited fitness effects but strains with larger fitness costs could be used to suppress mosquito populations. However, such infections are expected to evolve towards decreased deleterious effects. Here we investigate potential evolutionary changes in thewMelPop infection transferred fromDrosophila melanogaster toAedes aegypti more than ten years (~120 generations) ago. We show that most deleterious effects of this infection have persisted despite strong selection to ameliorate them. ThewMelPop-PGYP infection is difficult to maintain in laboratory colonies, likely due to the persistent deleterious effects coupled with occasional maternal transmission leakage. Furthermore, female mosquitoes can be scored incorrectly as infected due to transmission ofWolbachia through mating. Infection loss in colonies was not associated with evolutionary changes in the nuclear background. These findings suggest thatWolbachia transinfections with deleterious effects may have stable phenotypes which could ensure their long-term effectiveness if released in natural populations to reduce population size.
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research