title: Wolbachia: Can we save lives with a great pandemic?
abstract: Wolbachia pipientis is the most common bacterial infection in the animal world and wields a vast influence on invertebrate reproduction, sex determination, speciation, and behavior worldwide. These avenues of research have made seminal gains, including the latest use of Wolbachia to alter mosquito populations and a strengthened focus on using anti-Wolbachia therapies against filarial nematode infections. This work is further bolstered by a more refined knowledge of Wolbachia biology spanning mechanisms to relevance. Here we tally the most up-to-date knowledge in the field and review the immense implications that this global infection has for the basic and applied life sciences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA. daniel.lepage@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: LePage
authors.forename: Seth R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Bordenstein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009033:Culicidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005368:Filariasis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D009348:Nematoda / Q000382:microbiology*; D058873:Pandemics; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods*; D012098:Reproduction; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Wolbachia pipientis; filarial disease; vector control