title: Wolbachia strain wAlbB confers both fitness costs and benefit on Anopheles stephensi.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Wolbachia is a maternally transmitted intracellular bacterium that is estimated to infect up to 65% of insect species, but it is not naturally present in Anopheles malaria vectors. Wolbachia-based strategies for malaria vector control can be developed either through population replacement to reduce vectorial capacity or through population suppression to reduce the mosquito population. We have previously generated An. stephensi mosquitoes carrying a stable wAlbB Wolbachia infection and have demonstrated their ability to invade wild-type laboratory populations and confer resistance to Plasmodium on these populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed wAlbB-associated fitness by comparing the female fecundity, immature development and survivorship, body size, male mating competiveness, and adult longevity of the infected An. stephensi to that of wild-type mosquitoes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that wAlbB reduced female fecundity and caused a minor decrease in male mating competiveness. We also observed that wAlbB increased the life span of both male and female mosquitoes when they were maintained solely on sugar meals; however, there was no impact on the life span of blood-fed females. In addition, wAlbB did not influence either immature development and survivorship or adult body sizes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results provide significant support for developing Wolbachia-based strategies for malaria vector control.
authors.forename: Deepak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: McFadden
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bevins
authors.forename: Fengrui
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. xizy@msu.edu.
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000502:physiology; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008297:Male; D012744:Sex Ratio; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*