Costs of Three Wolbachia Infections on the Survival of Aedes aegypti Larvae under Starvation Conditions

PA Ross; NM Endersby; AA Hoffmann

Journal article

Costs of Three Wolbachia Infections on the Survival of Aedes aegypti Larvae under Starvation Conditions

PA Ross, NM Endersby, AA Hoffmann

Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2016

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004320

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Abstract

The mosquito Aedes aegypti, the principal vector of dengue virus, has recently been infected experimentally with Wolbachia: intracellular bacteria that possess potential as dengue biological control agents. Wolbachia depend on their hosts for nutrients they are unable to synthesize themselves. Consequently, competition between Wolbachia and their host for resources could reduce host fitness under the competitive conditions commonly experienced by larvae of Ae. aegypti in the field, hampering the invasion of Wolbachia into natural mosquito populations. We assess the survival and development of Ae. aegypti larvae under starvation conditions when infected with each of three experimentally-gener..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Perran Ross Author

Nancy Endersby Author

Ary Hoffmann Author

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Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

The research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (1037003, www.nhmrc.gov.au) and the Australian Research Council (FL100100066, www.arc.gov.au). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.