Novel Wolbachia strains in Anopheles malaria vectors from Sub-Saharan Africa

Jeffries, Claire L.; Lawrence, Gena G.; Golovko, George; Kristan, Mojca; Orsborne, James; Spence, Kirstin; Hurn, Eliot; Bandibabone, Janvier; Tantely, Michaël Luciano; Raharimalala, Fara Nantenaina; Keita, Kalil; Camara, Denka; Barry, Yaya; Watsenga, Francis; Manzambi, Émile Zola; Afrane, Yaw A.; Mohammed, Abdul Rahim; Abeku, Tarekegn A.; Hedge, Shivanand; Khanipov, Kamil; Pimenova, Maria; Fofanov, Yuriy; Boyer, Sébastien; Irish, Seth R.; Hughes, Grant L.; Walker, Thomas

doi:10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14765.2

Cited by 77 publications

(127 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…gambiae (Gomes et al, 2017). Our results indicate that conventional PCR amplification (wsp-targeting primers (Baldo et al, 2006) Wolbachia infection in Anopheles (Baldini et al, 2014;Gomes et al, 2017;Jeffries, Lawrence, et al, 2018;Niang et al, 2018;Shaw et al, 2016), there exist the doubt if they are real infections (Chrostek & Gerth, 2018). The Wolbachia sequences found in our specimens were genetically close to those found in other Diptera, and no signal of extensive divergence was detected (Figures 2 and 3 In Central African Anopheles, Wolbachia acquisition seems to be independent of the host phylogeny (Figures 2 and 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

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Natural Wolbachia infections are common in the major malaria vectors in Central Africa

Ayala

Akone‐Ella

Rahola

et al. 2019

Evolutionary Applications

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During the last decade, the endosymbiont bacterium Wolbachia has emerged as a biological tool for vector disease control. However, for long time, it was believed that Wolbachia was absent in natural populations of Anopheles . The recent discovery that species within the Anopheles gambiae complex host Wolbachia in natural conditions has opened new opportunities for malaria control research in Africa. Here, we investigated the prevalence and diversity of Wolbachia infection in 25 African Anopheles species in Gabon (Central Africa). Our results revealed the presence of Wolbachia in 16 of these species, including the major malaria vectors in this area. The infection prevalence varied greatly among species, confirming that sample size is a key factor to detect the infection. Moreover, our sequencing and phylogenetic analyses showed the important diversity of Wolbachia strains that infect Anopheles . Co‐evolutionary analysis unveiled patterns of Wolbachia transmission within some Anopheles species, suggesting that past independent acquisition events were followed by co‐cladogenesis. The large diversity of Wolbachia strains that infect natural populations of Anopheles offers a promising opportunity to select suitable phenotypes for suppressing Plasmodium transmission and/or manipulating Anopheles reproduction, which in turn could be used to reduce the malaria burden in Africa.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

“…The present study provides three key findings. First, the genus Wolbachia infections were mainly limited to species within the gambiae complex (Baldini et al, 2014;Gomes et al, 2017) and few other species (Baldini et al, 2018;Jeffries, Lawrence, et al, 2018;Niang et al, 2018). Several hypotheses can be put forward to explain this.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural Wolbachia infections are common in the major malaria vectors in Central Africa

Ayala

Akone‐Ella

Rahola

et al. 2019

Evolutionary Applications

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“…gambiae complex is shown as a compressed sub-tree (blue). For comparison, various field-collected Anopheles sequences, previously obtained [24] are included, in addition to sequences obtained from GenBank, with their accession numbers provided.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…moucheti and An . species A respectively, are higher density infections that dominate the mosquito microbiome [24]. Interestingly, the presence of Wolbachia strains in Anopheles was inversely correlated to other bacteria species, such as Asaia that are stably associated with several species [30–32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, the presence of Wolbachia strains in Anopheles was inversely correlated to other bacteria species, such as Asaia that are stably associated with several species [30–32]. Evidence for this ‘mutual exclusion’ between competing bacterial species in Anopheles was also present from analysis of field collected mosquitoes from multiple countries in Sub-Saharan Africa [24]. In this study, we collected wild Anopheles mosquitoes from two regions of Guinea in June-July 2018 and characterised the natural Wolbachia strains to provide further evidence for the presence of these endosymbionts in malaria vectors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence for natural hybridisation and novel Wolbachia strain superinfections in the Anopheles gambiae complex from Guinea

Jeffries

Cansado-Utrilla

Béavogui³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background: Wolbachia, a widespread bacterium that can influence mosquitoborne pathogen transmission, has recently been shown to infect Anopheles (An.) species that are malaria vectors in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although there are studies reporting strains in the An. gambiae complex, the apparent low density and low prevalence rates requires further investigation. In contrast, strains in other species appear higher density allowing a greater understanding of phylogenetics and more accurate determination of prevalence rates in wild mosquito populations. Methods:Anopheles mosquitoes were collected in the Faranah and Maferinyah regions of Guinea in June-July 2018. RNA was extracted from 542 females and reverse transcribed to determine Wolbachia prevalence rates, demonstrate gene expression and estimate relative strain densities using quantitative PCR. Molecular confirmation of mosquito species and Wolbachia multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was carried out to analyse phylogenetic relationships of newly discovered strains.Results: Low prevalence rates were detected in An. gambiae s.s. (0.0: 2.9%) andnovel Wolbachia strains were discovered in two species: the wAnMe strain in An. melas (18/168: prevalence rate of 10.7%) and the wAnsX strain in a previously unidentified Anopheles species we have termed 'An. species X' (1/1). Novel strains were phylogenetically diverse, with wAnMe clustering with Wolbachia Supergroup A strains, and wAnsX closest to Supergroup B strains. Significantly higher density strains were present in An. species X and An. melas compared to An. gambiae s.s. and were comparable in density to a novel Wolbachia strain discovered in Culex watti termed wWat. Conclusions:The discovery of novel Wolbachia strains provides further insight into the strain diversity within Anopheles species. Confirmation of gene expression for all MLST and wsp genes for wAnsX and wAnMe strains and qPCR analysis indicates these are candidate strains for transinfection to create stable infections in other Anopheles species. They have the potential for use in Anopheles biocontrol strategies either through population replacement or suppression control strategies.

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An elusive endosymbiont: DoesWolbachiaoccur naturally inAedes aegypti?

Ross

Callahan

Yang

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Wolbachia are maternally inherited endosymbiotic bacteria found within many insect species. Aedes mosquitoes experimentally infected with Wolbachia are being released into the field for Aedes‐borne disease control. These Wolbachia infections induce cytoplasmic incompatibility which is used to suppress populations through incompatible matings or replace populations through the reproductive advantage provided by this mechanism. However, the presence of naturally occurring Wolbachia in target populations could interfere with both population replacement and suppression programs depending on the compatibility patterns between strains. Aedes aegypti were thought to not harbor Wolbachia naturally but several recent studies have detected Wolbachia in natural populations of this mosquito. We therefore review the evidence for natural Wolbachia infections in A. aegypti to date and discuss limitations of these studies. We draw on research from other mosquito species to outline the potential implications of natural Wolbachia infections in A. aegypti for disease control. To validate previous reports, we obtained a laboratory population of A. aegypti from New Mexico, USA, that harbors a natural Wolbachia infection, and we conducted field surveys in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where a natural Wolbachia infection has also been reported. However, we were unable to detect Wolbachia in both the laboratory and field populations. Because the presence of naturally occurring Wolbachia in A. aegypti could have profound implications for Wolbachia‐based disease control programs, it is important to continue to accurately assess the Wolbachia status of target Aedes populations.

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Novel Wolbachia strains in Anopheles malaria vectors from Sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 77 publications

References 83 publications

Natural Wolbachia infections are common in the major malaria vectors in Central Africa

Natural Wolbachia infections are common in the major malaria vectors in Central Africa

Evidence for natural hybridisation and novel Wolbachia strain superinfections in the Anopheles gambiae complex from Guinea

An elusive endosymbiont: DoesWolbachiaoccur naturally inAedes aegypti?

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