wMel Wolbachia genome remains stable after 7 years in Australian Aedes aegypti field populations.

Infection of wMel Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti imparts two signature features that enable its application for biocontrol of dengue. First, the susceptibility of mosquitoes to viruses such as dengue and Zika is reduced. Second, a reproductive manipulation is caused that enables wMel introgression into wild-type mosquito populations. The long-term success of this method relies, in part, on evolution of the wMel genome not compromising the critical features that make it an attractive biocontrol tool. This study compared the wMel Wolbachia genome at the time of initial releases and 1-7 years post-release in Cairns, Australia. Our results show the wMel genome remains highly conserved up to 7 years post-release in gene sequence, content, synteny and structure. This work suggests the wMel genome is stable in its new mosquito host and, therefore, provides reassurance on the potential for wMel to deliver long-term public-health impacts.

Differential suppression of persistent insect specific viruses in trans-infected wMel and wMelPop-CLA Aedes-derived mosquito lines.

Wolbachia suppresses the replication of +ssRNA viruses such as dengue and Zika viruses in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. However, the range of viruses affected by this endosymbiont is yet to be explored. Recently, novel insect-specific viruses (ISVs) have been described from numerous mosquito species and mosquito-derived cell lines. Cell-fusing agent virus (Flaviviridae) and Phasi Charoen-like virus (Bunyaviridae) persistently infect the Ae. aegypti cell line Aag2 which has been used for experimental studies with both the wMel and wMelPop-CLA strains. Wolbachia was found to restrict the replication of CFAV but not the PCLV infection in these lines. Furthermore, an additional Ae. albopictus cell line (RML-12) which contained either wMel or wMelPop-CLA was assessed. While no infectious +ssRNA or dsRNA viruses were detected, a PCLV infection was identified. These observations provide additional evidence to support that insect-specific, +ssRNA viruses can be suppressed in cell culture by Wolbachia but -ssRNA viruses may not.