title: Wolbachia endobacteria in a natural population of Culex quinquefasciatus from filariasis endemic villages of south India and its phylogenetic implication.
abstract: Understanding Wolbachia mosquito interactions have been recognized as an   important concept to develop novel vector control strategies. The prevalence of Wolbachia   endobacteria in a natural population of the filariasis vector Culex quinquefasciatus was   determined by the polymerase chain reaction method. Earlier workers had estimated the   infection rates of Wolbachia with only one or very few individuals per species. In our study   large number of specimens were assayed, and a total of 750 adult Culex quinquefasciatus   mosquitoes were collected from three south Indian villages of Tirukoilur and Mugaiyur blocks,   monthly for a period of five months (December 2006 to April 2007) and screened for the   presence of Wolbachia. The percentage prevalence in adult males ranged from 88% to 96%;   while in females from 84% to 100%. An overall prevalence of 91.2% was observed. There was   no significant difference observed in the proportion of mosquitoes positive for Wolbachia   between males and females, and also between different months of the survey; except during   the month of February '07. The wsp gene sequence of the Wolbachia strain of Cx.   quinquefasciatus detected was BLAST analysed and showed 99% sequence similarity with   Wolbachia sp. of Culex pipiens isolated from different geographical regions. Phylogenetic   analysis based on wsp gene fragments showed that the present Wolbachia isolate was closely   related with Wolbachia from Culex pipens pipiens, Niphotettix virescens (Order: Hemiptera)   and Cnaphalocrosis medinalis (Order: Lepidoptera).
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Medical Entomology, (Indian Council of Medical Research), 4.Sarojini Street, Chinna Chokkikulam, Madurai- 625 002. India. crmeicmr@icmr.org.in
authors.forename: I P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Sunish
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rajendran
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paramasivan
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Dhananjeyan
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Tyagi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003465:Culex / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D005368:Filariasis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial