<i>Wolbachia</i> in <i>Aedes koreicus</i>: Rare Detections and Possible Implications
Claudia Damiani,
Alessia Cappelli,
Francesco Comandatore,
Fabrizio Montarsi,
Aurelio Serrao,
Alice Michelutti,
Michela Bertola,
Maria Vittoria Mancini,
Irene Ricci,
Claudio Bandi,
Guido Favia
Affiliations
Claudia Damiani
School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, CIRM Italian Malaria Network, Via Gentile III da Varano, 62032 Camerino, Italy
Alessia Cappelli
School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, CIRM Italian Malaria Network, Via Gentile III da Varano, 62032 Camerino, Italy
Francesco Comandatore
Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi Pediatric Research Center, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Luigi Sacco, Università di Milano, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi 74, 20157 Milan, Italy
Polo d’Innovazione di Genomica, Genetica e Biologia, Via Mazzieri, 05100 Terni, Italy
Irene Ricci
School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, CIRM Italian Malaria Network, Via Gentile III da Varano, 62032 Camerino, Italy
Claudio Bandi
Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi Pediatric Research Center, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Luigi Sacco, Università di Milano, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi 74, 20157 Milan, Italy
Guido Favia
School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, CIRM Italian Malaria Network, Via Gentile III da Varano, 62032 Camerino, Italy
The emerging distribution of new alien mosquito species was recently described in Europe. In addition to the invasion of Aedes albopictus, several studies have focused on monitoring and controlling other invasive Aedes species, as Aedes koreicus and Aedes japonicus. Considering the increasing development of insecticide resistance in Aedes mosquitoes, new control strategies, including the use of bacterial host symbionts, are proposed. However, little is known about the bacterial communities associated with these species, thus the identification of possible candidates for Symbiotic Control is currently limited. The characterization of the natural microbiota of field-collected Ae. koreicus mosquitoes from North-East Italy through PCR screening, identified native infections of Wolbachia in this species that is also largely colonized by Asaia bacteria. Since Asaia and Wolbachia are proposed as novel tools for Symbiotic Control, our study supports their use for innovative control strategies against new invasive species. Although the presence of Asaia was previously characterized in Ae. koreicus, our study characterized this Wolbachia strain, also inferring its phylogenetic position. The co-presence of Wolbachia and Asaia may provide additional information about microbial competition in mosquito, and to select suitable phenotypes for the suppression of pathogen transmission and for the manipulation of host reproduction in Ae. koreicus.
