The Native Wolbachia Symbionts Limit Transmission of Dengue Virus in Aedes albopictus

The chikungunya (CHIK) outbreak that struck La Reunion Island in 2005 was preceded by few human cases of Dengue (DEN), but which surprisingly did not lead to an epidemic as might have been expected in a non-immune population. Both arboviral diseases are transmitted to humans by two main mosquito spe...

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Published in:PLoS neglected tropical diseases Vol. 6; no. 12; p. e1989
Main Authors: Mousson, Laurence, Zouache, Karima, Arias-Goeta, Camilo, Raquin, Vincent, Mavingui, Patrick, Failloux, Anna-Bella
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.12.2012
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:
Aedes
Aedes - microbiology
Aedes - virology
Aedes albopictus
Animal Structures
Animal Structures - microbiology
Animal Structures - virology
Animals
Bacterial Load
Biology
Dengue Virus
Dengue Virus - growth & development
Dengue Virus - physiology
Dengue viruses
Disease transmission
Disease Vectors
Female
Humans
Life Sciences
Mice
Microbial Interactions
Microbiology and Parasitology
Physiological aspects
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Reunion
Saliva
Saliva - virology
Symbiosis
Viral Load
Virology
Virus Replication
Wolbachia
Wolbachia - growth & development
Wolbachia - physiology
Reunion
France
Animal Structures
Reunion
Symbiosis
Humans
Bacterial Load
Aedes
Dengue Virus
Viral Load
Animals
Virus Replication
Wolbachia
Female
Mice
Disease Vectors
Microbial Interactions
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Saliva
ISSN:1935-2735, 1935-2727, 1935-2735
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Summary:The chikungunya (CHIK) outbreak that struck La Reunion Island in 2005 was preceded by few human cases of Dengue (DEN), but which surprisingly did not lead to an epidemic as might have been expected in a non-immune population. Both arboviral diseases are transmitted to humans by two main mosquito species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. In the absence of the former, Ae. albopictus was the only species responsible for viral transmission on La Reunion Island. This mosquito is naturally super-infected with two Wolbachia strains, wAlbA and wAlbB. While Wolbachia does not affect replication of CHIK virus (CHIKV) in Ae. albopictus, a similar effect was not observed with DEN virus (DENV). To understand the weak vectorial status of Ae. albopictus towards DENV, we used experimental oral infections of mosquitoes from La Reunion Island to characterize the impact of Wolbachia on DENV infection. Viral loads and Wolbachia densities were measured by quantitative PCR in different organs of Ae. albopictus where DENV replication takes place after ingestion. We found that: (i) Wolbachia does not affect viral replication, (ii) Wolbachia restricts viral density in salivary glands, and (iii) Wolbachia limits transmission of DENV, as infectious viral particles were only detected in the saliva of Wolbachia-uninfected Ae. albopictus, 14 days after the infectious blood-meal. We show that Wolbachia does not affect the replication of DENV in Ae. albopictus. However, Wolbachia is able to reduce viral infection of salivary glands and limit transmission, suggesting a role of Wolbachia in naturally restricting the transmission of DENV in Ae. albopictus from La Reunion Island. The extension of this conclusion to other Ae. albopictus populations should be investigated.
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content type line 23
PMCID: PMC3531523
Conceived and designed the experiments: ABF PM. Performed the experiments: LM KZ CAG VR. Analyzed the data: KZ CAG ABF. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: LM KZ CAG VR. Wrote the paper: ABF KZ PM.
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:1935-2735
1935-2727
1935-2735
DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001989