Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Wolbachia are maternally transmitted intracellular bacteria that invade insect populations by manipulating their reproduction and immunity and thus limiting the spread of numerous human pathogens. Experimental Wolbachia infections can reduce Plasmodium numbers in Anopheles mosquitoes in the laboratory, however, natural Wolbachia infections in field anophelines have never been reported. Here we show evidence of Wolbachia infections in Anopheles gambiae in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene identified Wolbachia sequences in both female and male germlines across two seasons, and determined that these sequences are vertically transmitted from mother to offspring. Whole-genome sequencing of positive samples suggests that the genetic material identified in An. gambiae belongs to a novel Wolbachia strain, related to but distinct from strains infecting other arthropods. The evidence of Wolbachia infections in natural Anopheles populations promotes further investigations on the possible use of natural Wolbachia–Anopheles associations to limit malaria transmission. Wolbachia bacteria live within the cells of many insect species, manipulating their hosts’ reproduction and immune responses. Here, the authors show that these microbes also infect wild populations of malaria-spreading Anopheles mosquitoes, supporting a potential use of Wolbachiato limit malaria transmission.
Source: Nature Communications
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4985
Institutions: Harvard University, University of Perugia, University of Trento, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Inserm, Architecture et Réactivité de l'arN, Modèles Insectes de l'Immunité Innée, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université de Strasbourg, Imperial College London, Centre Muraz, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology
Language: English
Subfield: Insect Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
Funders: Wellcome Trust, European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Università degli Studi di Trento, Fondation des Treilles, National Institutes of Health, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, FP7 Ideas: European Research Council
Awards: Towards the establishment of a permanent European Virtual Institute dedicated to Malaria Research (EVIMalaR)., Genome Interactions and Malaria transmission Efficiency in Anopheles gambiae, G2022299054, Targeting the reproductive biology of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae: from laboratory studies to field applications, Unravelling the role of the male accessory glands in the fertility of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, G3038135699, The molecular basis of female reproductive biology in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, Targeting the reproductive interactome of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, Computational shotgun metagenomics to detail mother-to-infant vertical microbiome transmission and microbiome-pathogen interaction in Cystic Fibrosis
OpenAlex ID: W2120018750