Abstract
BackgroundUntil very recently, Anopheles were considered naturally unable to host Wolbachia, an intracellular bacterium regarded as a potential biological control tool. Their detection in field populations of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato, suggests that they may also be present in many more anopheline species than previously thought.ResultsHere, is reported the first discovery of natural Wolbachia infections in Anopheles funestus populations from Senegal, the second main malaria vector in Africa. Molecular phylogeny analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene revealed at least two Wolbachia genotypes which were named wAnfu-A and wAnfu-B, according to their close relatedness to the A and B supergroups. Furthermore, both wAnfu genotypes displayed high proximity with wAnga sequences previously described from the An. gambiae complex, with only few nucleotide differences. However, the low prevalence of infection, together with the difficulties encountered for detection, whatever method used, highlights the need to develop an effective and sensitive Wolbachia screening method dedicated to anopheline.ConclusionsThe discovery of natural Wolbachia infection in An. funestus, another major malaria vector, may overcome the main limitation of using a Wolbachia-based approach to control malaria through population suppression and/or replacement.
Highlights
Until very recently, Anopheles were considered naturally unable to host Wolbachia, an intracellular bacterium regarded as a potential biological control tool
Wolbachia infection in wild Anopheles funestus populations from Senegal Wolbachia deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was detected in three specimens out of 247 females of An. funestus tested, which corresponds to a frequency of infection of 1.21%
This is the first report of Wolbachia infection among natural population of An. funestus in Senegal
Summary
Anopheles were considered naturally unable to host Wolbachia, an intracellular bacterium regarded as a potential biological control tool. Their detection in field populations of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato, suggests that they may be present in many more anopheline species than previously thought. Successful releases of Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti in Australia has provided experimental validation of previous theoretical models of Wolbachia population dynamics and demonstrated the viability of Wolbachia-based vector control strategies [8]. Anopheline mosquitoes that transmit human malaria have been considered resistant or less susceptible to Wolbachia infections due to the failure to detect native Wolbachia infection in 38 species of anopheles [9, 10], and the impossibility to obtain stable Wolbachia
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