Zika: Vector competence and interactions with Wolbachia

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Wolbachia are maternally inherited endosymbiotic intracellular bacteria able to spread through insect populations
using cytoplasmic incompatibility. The mosquito Aedes aegypti is naturally Wolbachia-free, but artificial
transinfections have been generated in the lab, while Aedes albopictus naturally carries two Wolbachia low density
co-infecting strains. Higher density Wolbachia transinfections in both species have been shown to block or strongly
inhibit the transmission of dengue and chikungunya viruses and several other pathogens. In Ae. aegypti Wolbachia are
becoming important biocontrol agents for the prevention of arbovirus transmission. Ae. aegypti is widely
acknowledged as the primary vector of zika virus; Ae. albopictus has been shown to be a competent zika vector but
controlled comparative assays to properly estimate its competence relative to aegypti have not been reported. Using a
unique resource available in the applicant lab, a set of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus lines transinfected with different
strains of Wolbachia at varying densities (several not previously reported), we will test zika vector competence at
different temperatures. We will also test the zika vector competence of Culex quinquefasciatus, an important vector of
West Nile Virus (like zika a flavivirus); if it proves a fully competent vector we will also evaluate the transmissionblocking
potential of a transinfection that reaches much higher density that its natural Wolbachia. The data obtained
will enable us to assess the biocontrol potential of Wolbachia against zika, and to better evaluate the role of two
potential secondary vectors in its transmission / epidemiology and as control targets.