The bacterium Wolbachia exploits host innate immunity to establish a symbiotic relationship with the dengue vector mosquito Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: A host's immune system plays a central role in shaping the composition of the microbiota and, in return, resident microbes influence immune responses. Symbiotic associations of the maternally transmitted bacterium Wolbachia occur with a wide range of arthropods. It is, however, absent from the dengue and Zika vector mosquito Aedes aegypti in nature. When Wolbachia is artificially forced to form symbiosis with this new mosquito host, it boosts the basal immune response and enhances the mosquito's resistance to pathogens, including dengue, Zika virus and malaria parasites. The mechanisms involved in establishing a symbiotic relationship between Wolbachia and A. aegypti, and the long-term outcomes of this interaction, are not well understood. Here, we have demonstrated that both the immune de

SUBMITTER: Pan X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5739022 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature