Sex-specific distribution and classification of < i > Wolbachia < /i > infections and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups in < i > Aedes albopictus < /i > from the Indo-Pacific

by Qiong Yang, Jessica Chung, Katie L. Robinson, Thomas L. Schmidt, Perran A. Ross, Jiaxin Liang, Ary A. Hoffmann The arbovirus vectorAedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) is common throughout the Indo-Pacific region, where most global dengue transmission occurs. We analysed population genomic data and tested for cryptic species in 160Ae.albopictus sampled from 16 locations across this region. We found no evidence of crypticAe.albopictus but found multiple intraspecific COI haplotypes partitioned into groups representing three Asian lineages: East Asia, Southeast Asia and Indonesia. Papua New Guinea (PNG), Vanuatu and Christmas Island shared recent coancestry, and Indonesia and Timor-Leste were likely invaded from East Asia. We used a machine learning trained on morphologically sexed samples to classify sexes using multiple genetic features and then characterized thewAlbA andwAlbBWolbachia infections in 664 other samples. ThewAlbA andwAlbB infections as detected by qPCR showed markedly different patterns in the sexes. For females, most populations had a very high double infection incidence, with 67% being the lowest value (from Timor-Leste). For males, the incidence of double infections ranged from 100% (PNG) to 0% (Vanuatu). Only 6 females were infected solely by thewAlbA infection, while rare uninfected mosquitoes were found in both sexes. ThewAlbA andwAlbB densities varied significantly among populations. For mosquitoes from Torres Strait and Vietnam, thewAlbB density w...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research