Bunyamwera Virus Infection of Wolbachia-Carrying Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Reduces Wolbachia Density

Abstract

Wolbachia symbionts introduced into Aedes mosquitoes provide a highly effective dengue virus transmission control strategy, increasingly utilised in many countries in an attempt to reduce disease burden. Whilst highly effective against dengue and other positive-sense RNA viruses, it remains unclear how effective Wolbachia is against negative-sense RNA viruses. Therefore, the effect of Wolbachia on Bunyamwera virus (BUNV) infection in Aedes aegypti was investigated using wMel and wAlbB, two strains currently used in Wolbachia releases for dengue control, as well as wAu, a strain that typically persists at a high density and is an extremely efficient blocker of positive-sense viruses. Wolbachia was found to reduce BUNV infection in vitro but not in vivo. Instead, BUNV caused significant impacts on density of all three Wolbachia strains following infection of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes. The ability of Wolbachia to successfully persist within the mosquito and block virus transmission is partially dependent on its intracellular density. However, reduction in Wolbachia density was not observed in offspring of infected mothers. This could be due in part to a lack of transovarial transmission of BUNV observed. The results highlight the importance of understanding the complex interactions between multiple arboviruses, mosquitoes and Wolbachia in natural environments, the impact this can have on maintaining protection against diseases, and the necessity for monitoring Wolbachia prevalence at release sites.