Journal article
Dynamics of the "popcorn" Wolbachia infection in outbred Aedes aegypti informs prospects for mosquito vector control
HL Yeap, P Mee, T Walker, AR Weeks, SL O'Neill, P Johnson, SA Ritchie, KM Richardson, C Doig, NM Endersby, AA Hoffmann
Genetics | OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC | Published : 2011
Abstract
Forty percent of the world's population is at risk of contracting dengue virus, which produces dengue fever with a potentially fatal hemorrhagic form. The wMelPop Wolbachia infection of Drosophila melanogaster reduces life span and interferes with viral transmission when introduced into the mosquito Aedes aegypti, the primary vector of dengue virus. Wolbachia has been proposed as an agent for preventing transmission of dengue virus. Population invasion by Wolbachia depends on levels of cytoplasmic incompatibility, fitness effects, and maternal transmission. Here we characterized these traits in an outbred genetic background of a potential target population of Ae. aegypti using two crossing s..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The research conducted in this article required human volunteers for mosquito blood feeding as approved by the University of Melbourne Human Ethics Committee (Approval 0723847) and the University of Queensland Human Ethics Committee (Approval 2007001379). This research was funded by a grant from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health as part of the Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A. A. H. was supported by an Australian Laureate Fellowship from the Australian Research Council.