Male mating performance and cytoplasmic incompatibility in a wPip Wolbachia trans‐infected line of Aedes albopictus (Stegomyia albopicta)

Abstract

Wolbachia pipientis Hertig (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) is a maternally inherited endosymbiont of a large number of insects and other arthropods that induces various effects on host reproductive biology. Among these, cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) is a form of sterility induced in eggs produced by mating between infected males and females uninfected or infected by an incompatible Wolbachia strain. This phenomenon has been proposed as a potential way to produce functionally sterile males to be used in genetic control programmes. In this paper, we report on experiments carried out to evaluate the mating performances of males of an Aedes albopictus (Stegomyia albopicta) (Diptera: Culicidae) line (ARw P), harbouring a new Wolbachia infection [the w Pip strain from Culex pipiens Linnaeus (Diptera: Culicidae)], in comparison with naturally infected males (SR line). ARw P males did not differ from SR males with regard to insemination capacity. Mating competitiveness did not differ significantly between lines in either laboratory or greenhouse conditions. Moreover, crosses with SR females were characterized by a 100% CI regardless of ARw P male age. All of these findings suggest that ARw P males may represent a very efficient tool for control programmes against Ae. albopictus based on the release of functionally sterile males.

The effects of genetic manipulation, dieldrin treatment and irradiation on the mating competitiveness of male Anopheles arabiensis in field cages

“…A C value between 0.84 and 0.92 was obtained for an artificially infected Aedes polynesiensis strain generated by introgressing Wolbachia from Aedes riversi when evaluated in semi-field cages (2.9 m 3 ) and conditions against F1 offspring from wild-caught A. polynesiensis females [35]. An Aedes albopictus ( Stegomyia albopicta ) line (ARwP), harbouring a new Wolbachia infection achieved a C value of 1.0 when they competed with naturally infected males (SR line) in laboratory cages (30 × 30 × 30 cm) and in a greenhouse (120 m 3 ) [36]. Unfortunately, many of these reports do not indicate the variance of the C values and it is therefore difficult to deduct if C values between treatments truly differ.…”

Biological Control of Mosquito Vectors: Past, Present, and Future

“…It is worth noting that quantitative analyses of mating ethograms in mosquitoes are rare, and mainly focus on the elaborate courtships found in the genera Sabethes [150,151,152] and Wyeomyia [153]. The majority of studies investigating the sexual behaviour of medically important Aedes species just compare the insemination ability in sterilised and wild type males [154,155,156,157,158,159,160,161]. Behavioural quantification of courtship and mating events has often been excluded in sexual behaviour studies [149,162,163].…”

Declining malaria, rising of dengue and Zika virus: insights for mosquito vector control

“…In particular, the majority of the studies focused on the sexual behaviour of medically important Aedes species focused on comparisons of insemination ability in sterilized and wild males (e.g. Balestrino et al 2010;Wiwatanaratanabutr et al 2010;Boyer et al 2011;Oliva et al 2012;Bellini et al 2013;Hamady et al 2013;Moretti and Calvitti 2013;Madakacherry et al 2014), without behavioural quantification of courtship and mating events (but see Oliva et al 2013;Benelli 2015c;Benelli et al 2015). Notably, limited information is also available on the potential molecules mediating aggregation and mating dynamics in mosquitoes (Cabrera and Jaffe 2007;Fawaz et al 2014;Pitts et al 2014).…”

“…Besides radiation, transgenic and symbiont-based control approaches (e.g. Wiwatanaratanabutr et al 2010;Oliva et al 2012;Moretti and Calvitti 2013;see Bourtzis et al 2016 for a dedicated review), an effective option readily available in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide may be the employ of biological control agents of Culicidae young instars, in the presence of ultra-low quantities of nanoformulated botanicals, which boost their predation rates (e.g. Murugan et al 2015b, c;Subramaniam et al 2016).…”