Wolbachia Do Not Induce Reactive Oxygen Species-Dependent Immune Pathway Activation in Aedes albopictus.
Aedes albopictus is a major vector of dengue (DENV) and chikungunya (CHIKV) viruses, causing millions of infections annually. It naturally carries, at high frequency, the intracellular inherited bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia strains wAlbA and wAlbB; transinfection with the higher-density Wolbachia strain wMel from Drosophila melanogaster led to transmission blocking of both arboviruses. The hypothesis that reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced immune activation plays a role in arbovirus inhibition in this species was examined. In contrast to previous observations in Ae. aegypti, elevation of ROS levels was not observed in either cell lines or mosquito lines carrying the wild-type Wolbachia or higher-density Drosophila Wolbachia strains. There was also no upregulation of genes controlling innate immune pathways or with antioxidant/ROS-producing functions. These data suggest that ROS-mediated immune activation is not an important component of the viral transmission-blocking phenotype in this species.
Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research and Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SY, UK. jenny.molloy@cantab.net.
Jennifer C
JC
Molloy
Biomedical and Life Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK. s.sinkins@lancaster.ac.uk.
Steven P
SP
Sinkins
D000330:Aedes / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D001103:Arboviruses / Q000276:immunology; D002460:Cell Line; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000276:immunology*
D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species
Aedes; ROS; arbovirus; chikungunya; dengue; mosquito