Native microbiome impedes vertical transmission of Wolbachia in Anopheles mosquitoes.

ABSTRACT: Over evolutionary time, Wolbachia has been repeatedly transferred between host species contributing to the widespread distribution of the symbiont in arthropods. For novel infections to be maintained, Wolbachia must infect the female germ line after being acquired by horizontal transfer. Although mechanistic examples of horizontal transfer exist, there is a poor understanding of factors that lead to successful vertical maintenance of the acquired infection. Using Anopheles mosquitoes (which are naturally uninfected by Wolbachia) we demonstrate that the native mosquito microbiota is a major barrier to vertical transmission of a horizontally acquired Wolbachia infection. After injection into adult Anopheles gambiae, some strains of Wolbachia invade the germ line, but are poorly transmitted t

SUBMITTER: Hughes GL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4151774 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature