How does Wolbachia bacteria work?
How our Wolbachia method works. Our Wolbachia method is simple. We discovered that when Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carry Wolbachia, the bacteria compete with viruses like dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. This makes it harder for viruses to reproduce inside the mosquitoes.
What is the function of the Wolbachia gene product?
Wolbachia pipientis is an intracellular inherited bacterium found in arthropods, where it manipulates host reproduction using phenotypes such as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), male killing, parthenogenesis and feminization, and can spread rapidly through insect populations [1].
How is Wolbachia transmitted?
Wolbachia are not easily transmitted from one host to another. Instead, Wolbachia is almost exclusively transmitted from mother to offspring via infected eggs. Males can be infected with Wolbachia but males DO NOT transmit Wolbachia to offspring or any other hosts.
Is Wolbachia Gram positive or negative?
Wolbachia is a gram-negative endosymbiotic bacterium, and it belongs to the phylum α-proteobacteria, order Rickettsiales,1 and family Anaplasmataceae. Wolbachia was first detected as Rickettsia-like organisms from the common house mosquito Culex pipiens.
How is Wolbachia introduced?
First, Wolbachia bacteria are introduced into male and female Ae. aegypti mosquito eggs. From these eggs, new mosquitoes with Wolbachia are bred. Mosquitoes are mass-produced in a factory.
Where is Wolbachia located?
Wolbachia is an intracellular bacterium found primarily in arthropods and filarial nematodes. In insects, Wolbachia is abundant in both the male and female germlines, though it is vertically transmitted exclusively through the female germline.
Is Wolbachia a gene?
DNA sequencing confirmed that all of these PCR products are certainly Wolbachia genes (Supplemental Table S1). These results suggested that a large number of Wolbachia genes are present in the insect genome.
What are the 4 basic reproductive strategies induced by Wolbachia?
Four reproductive manipulation phenotypes are described as caused by Wolbachia: cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), male killing (MK), parthenogenesis induction (PI), and feminization.
Is Wolbachia a parasite?
Background: Wolbachia is the most common endosymbiotic bacteria in insectborne parasites and it is the most common reproductive parasite in the world. Wolbachia has been found worldwide in numerous arthropod and parasite species, including insects, terrestrial isopods, spiders, mites and filarial nematodes.
Where can Wolbachia be found?
1 Wolbachia. Wolbachia belongs to the bacteria which naturally infects some insects. Wolbachia is primarily found in insects including Drosophila melanog/caster, Anopheles stephensi, and honey bees. Generally, this bacterium is not considered as a natural host for Aedes species.
Which country is the Wolbachia project?
Suppression strategy: This approach, which NEA is now piloting under Project Wolbachia – Singapore, aims to reduce mosquito-borne disease transmission by suppressing mosquito populations. It involves the release of non-biting male Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes to mate with urban female mosquitoes.