Costs of Three Wolbachia Infections on the Survival of Aedes aegypti Larvae under Starvation Conditions.

ABSTRACT: The mosquito Aedes aegypti, the principal vector of dengue virus, has recently been infected experimentally with Wolbachia: intracellular bacteria that possess potential as dengue biological control agents. Wolbachia depend on their hosts for nutrients they are unable to synthesize themselves. Consequently, competition between Wolbachia and their host for resources could reduce host fitness under the competitive conditions commonly experienced by larvae of Ae. aegypti in the field, hampering the invasion of Wolbachia into natural mosquito populations. We assess the survival and development of Ae. aegypti larvae under starvation conditions when infected with each of three experimentally-generated Wolbachia strains: wMel, wMelPop and wAlbB, and compare their fitness to wild-type uninfected l

SUBMITTER: Ross PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4706305 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature