Wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female Aedes aegypti.
Wolbachia, a gram-negative endosymbiotic bacterium widespread in arthropods, is well-known for changing the reproduction of its host in ways that increase its rate of spread, but there are also costs to hosts that can reduce this. Here we investigated a novel reproductive alteration of Wolbachia wAl...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-11-01
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| Series: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010913 |
| _version_ | 1811205192404697088 |
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| author | Meng-Jia Lau Perran A Ross Nancy M Endersby-Harshman Qiong Yang Ary A Hoffmann |
| author_facet | Meng-Jia Lau Perran A Ross Nancy M Endersby-Harshman Qiong Yang Ary A Hoffmann |
| author_sort | Meng-Jia Lau |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wolbachia, a gram-negative endosymbiotic bacterium widespread in arthropods, is well-known for changing the reproduction of its host in ways that increase its rate of spread, but there are also costs to hosts that can reduce this. Here we investigated a novel reproductive alteration of Wolbachia wAlbB on its host Aedes aegypti, using studies on mosquito life history traits, ovarian dissection, as well as gene expression assays. We found that an extended period of the larval stage as well as the egg stage (as previously shown) can increase the proportion of Wolbachia-infected females that become infertile; an effect which was not observed in uninfected females. Infertile females had incomplete ovarian formation and also showed a higher frequency of blood feeding following a prior blood meal, indicating that they do not enter a complete gonotrophic cycle. Treatments leading to infertility also decreased the expression of genes related to reproduction, especially the vitellogenin receptor gene whose product regulates the uptake of vitellogenin (Vg) into ovaries. Our results demonstrate effects associated with the development of infertility in wAlbB-infected Ae. aegypti females with implications for Wolbachia releases. The results also have implications for the evolution of Wolbachia infections in novel hosts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:26:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dd178921b84f4805a7414fcc4812f8a2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-2727 1935-2735 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:26:35Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-dd178921b84f4805a7414fcc4812f8a22022-12-22T03:49:41ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352022-11-011611e001091310.1371/journal.pntd.0010913Wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female Aedes aegypti.Meng-Jia LauPerran A RossNancy M Endersby-HarshmanQiong YangAry A HoffmannWolbachia, a gram-negative endosymbiotic bacterium widespread in arthropods, is well-known for changing the reproduction of its host in ways that increase its rate of spread, but there are also costs to hosts that can reduce this. Here we investigated a novel reproductive alteration of Wolbachia wAlbB on its host Aedes aegypti, using studies on mosquito life history traits, ovarian dissection, as well as gene expression assays. We found that an extended period of the larval stage as well as the egg stage (as previously shown) can increase the proportion of Wolbachia-infected females that become infertile; an effect which was not observed in uninfected females. Infertile females had incomplete ovarian formation and also showed a higher frequency of blood feeding following a prior blood meal, indicating that they do not enter a complete gonotrophic cycle. Treatments leading to infertility also decreased the expression of genes related to reproduction, especially the vitellogenin receptor gene whose product regulates the uptake of vitellogenin (Vg) into ovaries. Our results demonstrate effects associated with the development of infertility in wAlbB-infected Ae. aegypti females with implications for Wolbachia releases. The results also have implications for the evolution of Wolbachia infections in novel hosts.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010913 |
| spellingShingle | Meng-Jia Lau Perran A Ross Nancy M Endersby-Harshman Qiong Yang Ary A Hoffmann Wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female Aedes aegypti. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| title | Wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female Aedes aegypti. |
| title_full | Wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female Aedes aegypti. |
| title_fullStr | Wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female Aedes aegypti. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female Aedes aegypti. |
| title_short | Wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female Aedes aegypti. |
| title_sort | wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female aedes aegypti |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010913 |
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