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Transinfection of buffalo flies (Haematobia exigua) with Wolbachia and effect on host biology

View ORCID ProfileMukund Madhav, Geoff Brown, Jess A.T Morgan, Sassan Asgari, Elizabeth A. McGraw, Peter James
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/867093
Mukund Madhav
aQueensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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  • ORCID record for Mukund Madhav
Geoff Brown
bDepartment of Agriculture and Fishery, Brisbane, Australia
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Jess A.T Morgan
bDepartment of Agriculture and Fishery, Brisbane, Australia
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Sassan Asgari
cAustralian Infectious Disease Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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Elizabeth A. McGraw
dDepartment of Entomology, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
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Peter James
aQueensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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  • For correspondence: p.james1@uq.edu.au
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Abstract

A widespread insect endosymbiont Wolbachia is currently of much interest for use in novel strategies for the control of insect pests and blocking transmission of insect-vectored diseases. Wolbachia-induced effects can vary from beneficial to detrimental depending on host biology and the genetic background of the infecting strains. As a first step towards investigating the potential of Wolbachia for use in the biocontrol of buffalo flies (BF), embryos, pupae, and adult female BF were injected with three different Wolbachia strains (wAlbB, wMel and wMelPop). BF eggs were not easily injected because of their tough outer chorion and embryos were frequently damaged resulting in less than 1% hatch rate of microinjected eggs. No Wolbachia infection was recorded in flies successfully reared from injected eggs. Adult and pupal injection gave a much higher survival rate and resulted in somatic infection and germinal tissue infection in surviving flies with transmission to the succeeding generations on a number of occasions. Investigations of infection dynamics in flies from injected pupae confirmed that Wolbachia were increasing in numbers in BF somatic tissues and ovarian infections were confirmed with wMel and wMelPop in some instances, though not with wAlbB. Measurement of fitness traits indicated reduced longevity, decreased and delayed adult emergence, and reduced fecundity in Wolbachia-infected flies in comparison to mock-injected flies. Furthermore, fitness effects varied according to the Wolbachia strain injected with most marked reductions seen in the wMelPop-injected flies and least severe effects seen with the wAlbB strain.

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Posted December 06, 2019.
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Transinfection of buffalo flies (Haematobia exigua) with Wolbachia and effect on host biology
Mukund Madhav, Geoff Brown, Jess A.T Morgan, Sassan Asgari, Elizabeth A. McGraw, Peter James
bioRxiv 867093; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/867093
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Transinfection of buffalo flies (Haematobia exigua) with Wolbachia and effect on host biology
Mukund Madhav, Geoff Brown, Jess A.T Morgan, Sassan Asgari, Elizabeth A. McGraw, Peter James
bioRxiv 867093; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/867093

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