From lab to field: the influence of urban landscapes on the invasive potential of Wolbachia in Brazilian Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
Autor(es): Dutra, Heverton Leandro Carneiro; dos Santos, Lilha Maria Barbosa; Caragata, Eric Pearce; Silva, Jessica Barreto Lopes; Villela, Daniel Antunes Maciel; Maciel-de-Freitas, Rafael; Moreira, Luciano Andrade
Resumo: Wolbachia are maternally inherited bacterial endosymbionts that induce cytoplasmic incompatibility in mosquitoes, and use this pattern of sterility to facilitate their spread into naive, uninfected host populations. These bacteria were recently introduced into Aedes aegypti, a species naturally free of Wolbachia, and the primary vector of dengue virus. Wolbachia are currently being used as a biological tool to control dengue transmission in many countries, including Brazil. We performed a series of laboratory and field assays and then created mathematical models in order to understand the invasive ability of the wMel Wolbachia strain in Brazilian Ae. aegypti mosquito populations. We show that wMel infection had no detrimental fitness effects on its new Brazilian host, and would theoretically be able to successfully invade the mosquito populations in the five distinct urban landscapes that we studied. We found that Wolbachia spread more easily where the local mosquito population was smaller. The size of the local human population did not overtly influence the likelihood of spread. These findings provide insight into how the nature of different urban landscapes will affect the likelihood of Wolbachia spreading effectively, which will greatly assist future releases of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in Brazil as part of the Eliminate Dengue Program.
Palavras-Chave: Human diseases; Mathematical models; Sterility; Pest control; Hosts; Aquatic insects; Dispersion; Disease transmission; Public health; Fitness; Spreading; Cytoplasmic incompatibility; Endosymbionts; Dengue; Landscape; Vectors; Infection; Dengue virus; Aedes aegypti; Wolbachia
Imprenta: Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases, v. 9, n. 4, 2015.
Descritores: Aedes aegypti - Virus ; Aedes aegypti - Transmission ; Aedes aegypti - Dengue
Data de publicação: 2015
