Using to Eliminate Dengue: Will the Virus Fight Back?

Recent field trials have demonstrated that dengue incidence can be substantially reduced by introgressing strains of the endosymbiotic bacterium into Aedes aegypti mosquito populations. This strategy relies on reducing the susceptibility of to disseminated infection by positive-sense RNA viruses like dengue. However, RNA viruses are well known to adapt to antiviral pressures. Here, we review the viral infection stages where selection for -resistant virus variants could occur. We also consider the genetic constraints imposed on viruses that alternate between vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, and the likely selection pressures to which dengue virus might adapt in order to be effectively transmitted by that carry . While there are hurdles to dengue viruses developing resistance to , we suggest that long-term surveillance for resistant viruses should be an integral component of -introgression biocontrol programs.