Infection Incidence and Relative Density of the Bacteriophage WO-B in Aedes albopictus Mosquitoes from Fields in Thailand

Abstract

We have used real-time quantitative PCR to measure, for the first time, the relative phage WO-B orf7 density and infection incidence in Aedes albopictus mosquitoes from fields in Thailand. Our results showed that the infection incidence of phage WO-B in this mosquito, sampled from geographically different places in Thailand, was 97.9%. Average relative densities of the offspring were different when collected from diverse parts and reared under the same conditions in the laboratory. Our results also revealed that geographical differences within Thailand did not influence the maternal transmission rate of bacteriophage WO-B. In addition, the orf7 loci might not be strictly associated with Wolbachia, because less than 100% of them were maternally inherited. This discovery does not support the hypothesis that bacteriophage WO-B is involved in Aedes albopictus' cytoplasmic incompatibility. Whether this bacteriophage actually is involved in Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility in this mosquito thus needs further investigation, and additional densities of phage WO-B loci should be integrated.