Wolbachia and arbovirus inhibition in mosquitoes

Sinkins, S. P. (2013) Wolbachia and arbovirus inhibition in mosquitoes. Future Microbiology, 8(10), pp. 1249-1256. (doi: 10.2217/fmb.13.95) (PMID:24059916)

Abstract

Wolbachia is a maternally inherited intracellular bacteria that can manipulate the reproduction of their insect hosts, and cytoplasmic incompatibility allows them to spread through mosquito populations. When particular strains of Wolbachia are transferred into certain Aedes mosquito species, the transmission capacity of important arthropod-borne viruses can be suppressed or abolished in laboratory challenges. Viral inhibition is associated with higher densities of transinfecting Wolbachia compared with wild-type strains of the bacterium. The upregulation of innate immune effectors can contribute to virus inhibition in Aedes aegypti, but does not seem to be required. Modulation of autophagy and lipid metabolism, and intracellular competition between viruses and bacteria for lipids, provide promising hypotheses for the mechanism of inhibition. Transinfecting virus-inhibiting strains can produce higher fitness costs than wild-type mosquito Wolbachia; however, this is not always the case, and the wMel strain has already been introduced to high frequency in wild Ae. aegypti populations.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The author was supported by Wellcome Trust grant 095121.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sinkins, Professor Steven
• Authors: Sinkins, S. P.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research
• Journal Name: Future Microbiology
• Publisher: Future Medicine
• ISSN: 1746-0913
• ISSN (Online): 1746-0921
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 Steven Sinkins
• First Published: First published in Future Microbiology 8(10): 1249-1256
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License