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. 2014 Jul;91(1):198-205.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.13-0576. Epub 2014 Apr 14.

Larval competition extends developmental time and decreases adult size of wMelPop Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti

Affiliations

Larval competition extends developmental time and decreases adult size of wMelPop Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti

Perran A Ross et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2014 Jul.

Abstract

The intracellular endosymbiont Wolbachia has been artificially transinfected into the dengue vector Aedes aegypti, where it is being investigated as a potential dengue biological control agent. Invasion of Wolbachia in natural populations depends upon the fitness of Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti relative to uninfected competitors. Although Wolbachia infections impose fitness costs on the adult host, effects at the immature stages are less clear, particularly in competitive situations. We look for effects of two Wolbachia infections, wMel and wMelPop, on intra-strain and inter-strain larval competition in Ae. aegypti. Development of Wolbachia-infected larvae is delayed in mixed cohorts with uninfected larvae under crowded-rearing conditions. Slow developing wMelPop-infected larvae have reduced adult size compared with uninfected larvae, and larvae with the wMel infection are somewhat larger and have greater viability relative to uninfected larvae when in mixed cohorts. Implications for successful invasion by these Wolbachia infections under field conditions are considered.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Mean wing length comparison between wMelPop-infected and uninfected Aedes aegypti for pure cohorts and mixed cohorts, and for females and males on three days of eclosion. Error bars indicate standard errors. Bars with the same letter (in bold) are not significantly different from each other (P > 0.05, by analysis of variance and Tukey's honest significance difference test). n indicates number of samples per bar.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Mean wing length comparison between wMel-infected and uninfected Aedes aegypti for pure cohorts and mixed cohorts, and for females and males on three days of eclosion. Error bars indicate standard errors. Bars with the same letter (in bold) are not significantly different from each other (P > 0.05, by analysis of variance and Tukey's honest significance test). n indicates number of samples per bar.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Relative Wolbachia density of Wolbachia-positive males and females of Aedes aegypti from A, wMelPop versus uninfected treatments and B, wMel versus uninfected treatments. Mean values are given for each day of eclosion. Error bars indicate standard errors. Bars with the same letter (in bold) are not significantly different from each other (P > 0.05, by analysis of variance and Tukey's honest significance test). n indicates number of samples per bar.

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