Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, Bio21 Institute and the School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Smithfield, Queensland, Australia.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 Apr 19;13(4):e0007357. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007357. eCollection 2019 Apr.
Wolbachia bacteria are now being introduced into Aedes aegypti mosquito populations for dengue control. When Wolbachia infections are at a high frequency, they influence the local transmission of dengue by direct virus blocking as well as deleterious effects on vector mosquito populations. However, the effectiveness of this strategy could be influenced by environmental temperatures that decrease Wolbachia density, thereby reducing the ability of Wolbachia to invade and persist in the population and block viruses. We reared wMel-infected Ae. aegypti larvae in the field during the wet season in Cairns, North Queensland. Containers placed in the shade produced mosquitoes with a high Wolbachia density and little impact on cytoplasmic incompatibility. However, in 50% shade where temperatures reached 39°C during the day, wMel-infected males partially lost their ability to induce cytoplasmic incompatibility and females had greatly reduced egg hatch when crossed to infected males. In a second experiment under somewhat hotter conditions (>40°C in 50% shade), field-reared wMel-infected females had their egg hatch reduced to 25% when crossed to field-reared wMel-infected males. Wolbachia density was reduced in 50% shade for both sexes in both experiments, with some mosquitoes cleared of their Wolbachia infections entirely. To investigate the critical temperature range for the loss of Wolbachia infections, we held Ae. aegypti eggs in thermocyclers for one week at a range of cyclical temperatures. Adult wMel density declined when eggs were held at 26-36°C or above with complete loss at 30-40°C, while the density of wAlbB remained high until temperatures were lethal. These findings suggest that high temperature effects on Wolbachia are potentially substantial when breeding containers are exposed to partial sunlight but not shade. Heat stress could reduce the ability of Wolbachia infections to invade mosquito populations in some locations and may compromise the ability of Wolbachia to block virus transmission in the field. Temperature effects may also have an ecological impact on mosquito populations given that a proportion of the population becomes self-incompatible.
沃尔巴克氏体细菌现在被引入埃及伊蚊种群中以控制登革热。当沃尔巴克氏体感染率较高时,它们通过直接阻断病毒以及对病媒蚊种群产生有害影响来影响登革热的本地传播。然而,这种策略的有效性可能会受到环境温度的影响,环境温度会降低沃尔巴克氏体的密度,从而降低沃尔巴克氏体入侵和在种群中持续存在以及阻断病毒的能力。我们在北昆士兰凯恩斯的湿季在野外饲养感染了 wMel 的埃及伊蚊幼虫。放置在阴凉处的容器中产生了沃尔巴克氏体密度高且细胞质不兼容影响小的蚊子。然而,在白天温度达到 39°C 的 50%遮荫处,感染了 wMel 的雄性蚊子部分丧失了诱导细胞质不兼容的能力,当与感染了 wMel 的雄性蚊子交配时,雌性蚊子的卵孵化率大大降低。在第二个实验中,在温度稍高的条件下(50%遮荫处超过 40°C),与野外饲养的感染了 wMel 的雄性蚊子交配时,野外饲养的感染了 wMel 的雌性蚊子的卵孵化率降低到 25%。在这两个实验中,雄性和雌性蚊子的沃尔巴克氏体密度在 50%遮荫处都降低了,有些蚊子完全清除了沃尔巴克氏体感染。为了研究丧失沃尔巴克氏体感染的临界温度范围,我们将埃及伊蚊卵在热循环器中保持一周,温度在一定范围内循环。当卵在 26-36°C 或以上温度下保持时,wMel 的成虫密度下降,在 30-40°C 时完全丧失,而 wAlbB 的密度在温度达到致死温度之前一直很高。这些发现表明,当饲养容器暴露在部分阳光下而不是阴影下时,高温对沃尔巴克氏体的影响可能是巨大的。热应激可能会降低沃尔巴克氏体感染入侵蚊子种群的能力,在某些地方可能会破坏沃尔巴克氏体阻断病毒传播的能力。鉴于部分种群变得自我不相容,温度效应也可能对蚊子种群产生生态影响。