Host age effect and expression of cytoplasmic incompatibility in feld populations of Wolbachia-superinfected Aedes albopictus

Abstract

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus (Skuse), is a known vector of dengue in South America and Southeast Asia. It is naturally superinfected with two strains of Wolbachia endosymbiont that are able to induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). In this paper, we report the strength of CI expression in crosses involving field-caught males. CI expression was found to be very strong in all crosses between field males and laboratory-reared uninfected or wAIbA infected young females. In addition, crossing experiments with laboratory colonies showed that aged superinfected males could express strong CI when mated with young uninfected or wAIbA infected females. These results provide additional evidence that the CI properties of Wolbachia infecting Aedes albopictus are well suited for applied strategies that seek to utilise Wolbachia for host population modification.