Diversity of Wolbachia infections in Sri Lankan mosquitoes with a new record of Wolbachia Supergroup B infecting Aedes aegypti vector populations

Wijegunawardana, N. D. A. D.; Gunawardene, Y. I. N. Silva; Abeyewickreme, W.; Chandrasena, T. G. A. N.; Thayanukul, P.; Kittayapong, P.

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-62476-3

Cited by 3 publications

References 56 publications

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Revisiting Wolbachia detections: Old and new issues in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and other insects

Ross,

Hoffmann

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Wolbachia continue to be reported in species previously thought to lack them, particularly Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The presence of Wolbachia in this arbovirus vector is considered important because releases of mosquitoes with transinfected Wolbachia are being used around the world to suppress pathogen transmission and these efforts depend on a lack of Wolbachia in natural populations of this species. We previously assessed papers reporting Wolbachia in natural populations of Ae. aegypti and found little evidence that seemed convincing. However, since our review, more and more papers are emerging on Wolbachia detections in this species. Our purpose here is to evaluate these papers within the context of criteria we previously established but also new criteria that include the absence of releases of transinfections within the local areas being sampled which has contaminated natural populations in at least one case where novel detections have been reported. We also address the broader issue of Wolbachia detection in other insects where similar issues may arise which can affect overall estimates of this endosymbiont more generally. We note continuing shortcomings in papers purporting to find natural Wolbachia in Ae. aegypti which are applicable to other insects as well.

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Revisiting Wolbachia detections: Old and new issues in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and other insects

Ross,

Hoffmann

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Global prevalence of naturally occurringWolbachiain field-collectedAedesmosquitoes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Gebremariam,

Leung,

Rusanganwa

2024

Preprint

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Background: Dengue is one of the leading causes of morbidity worldwide. Wolbachia-mediated dengue biocontrol has emerged as a novel strategy in recent decades and depends on a lack of Wolbachia in the natural populations of Aedes mosquitoes. Through a systematic review of the published literature, this study sought to estimate the natural occurrence of Wolbachia among field-collected Aedes mosquitoes worldwide. Methods: We conducted hand and systematic searches from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar for all relevant published articles on Wolbachia infection in Aedes mosquitoes published before September 12, 2024. The prevalence estimates were analysed using a random effects meta-analysis, and a random effects meta-regression was performed to determine sources of heterogeneity in prevalence estimates. Results: Twenty-three studies with 16,997 field-collected Aedes mosquitoes from different countries worldwide were included. The meta-analysis revealed a global pooled prevalence of natural Wolbachia infection in Aedes mosquitoes of 57.7% (95% CI: 41.0–72.8%), which was six times higher in Ae. albopictus than Ae. aegypti (p <0.001) and ranged from 6.0% (95% CI: 2.6–13.1%) in Ae. aegypti to 87.1% (95% CI: 78.0–92.8%) in Ae. albopictus. Continentally, Asia had the highest percentage of Wolbachia infection in Ae. aegypti (7.1%), followed by Europe (5.0%), North America (1.9%), and Africa (0.7%). Similarly, Asia had the highest prevalence of Wolbachia in Ae. albopictus (95.5%), followed by Europe (94.8%), North America (91.6%), South America (85.2%), and Africa (71.6%). Overall, dengue incidence was negatively related to Wolbachia prevalence (B = -0.0006, p = 0.0281). Species wise, infection rates in Ae. aegypti were significantly higher among females than males (OR = 1.72; 95% CI = 1.01, 2.92, p = 0.046), while there was no difference between males and females in Ae. albopictus (p = 0.098). Furthermore, Wolbachia infection rates in Ae. albopictus were inversely correlated with dengue incidence (β = -0.0013, p <0.01) but not in Ae. aegypti (p = 0.0984). In contrast, higher temperature was negatively associated with Wolbachia prevalence in Ae. aegypti but not in Ae. albopictus. In contrast, higher temperature was negatively associated with Wolbachia prevalence in Ae. aegypti (β = --2.5736, p <0.001) but not in Ae. albopictus (p = 0.7050). Conclusion: Aedes mosquitoes had a high and variable prevalence of naturally occurring Wolbachia, and this was negatively correlated with dengue incidence across countries. While the natural infection of Ae. albopictus is more common, detection in Ae. aegypti may reflect contamination and require high-quality multicentre studies to verify the above findings.

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Sequencing and Analysis of Wolbachia Strains from A and B Supergroups Detected in Sylvatic Mosquitoes from Brazil

da Silva,

da Silva

et al. 2024

Microorganisms

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Wolbachia are endosymbiotic bacteria that infect a wide range of arthropods and filarial nematodes, often manipulating host reproduction. The efficacy of Wolbachia-based interventions for dengue and chikungunya control has been validated through numerous field studies in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the diversity and prevalence of Wolbachia infections in sylvatic mosquitoes from two locations in Recife, Brazil. Multiple mosquito species were screened for Wolbachia using both target marker gene amplification coupled with Sanger sequencing and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) approaches. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted to classify Wolbachia strains into supergroups and assess their evolutionary relationships. Results revealed the presence of Wolbachia in eleven mosquito species examined, with different infection rates. Both supergroups A and B of Wolbachia strains were identified, with Aedes albopictus showing co-infection by both supergroups through the WGS approach. We also detected indirect evidence of Wolbachia horizontal transmission among mosquitoes and other distant host orders. This study provides valuable insights into the distribution and diversity of Wolbachia in sylvatic mosquitoes from Brazil and adds new important data about Wolbachia detection through target marker gene amplicon coupled with Sanger sequencing and WGS methods, highlighting its complementarity to ascertain the presence of Wolbachia in mosquito samples.

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Diversity of Wolbachia infections in Sri Lankan mosquitoes with a new record of Wolbachia Supergroup B infecting Aedes aegypti vector populations

Cited by 3 publications

References 56 publications

Revisiting Wolbachia detections: Old and new issues in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and other insects

Revisiting Wolbachia detections: Old and new issues in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and other insects

Global prevalence of naturally occurringWolbachiain field-collectedAedesmosquitoes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Sequencing and Analysis of Wolbachia Strains from A and B Supergroups Detected in Sylvatic Mosquitoes from Brazil

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