How Common are Wolbachia and Other Bacteria in Insects?
New research on bacterial endosymbionts in insects suggests that such bacteria may infect a wide variety of insect species but a low proportion of individuals within those species.
Study of Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Finds No Evidence of Natural Wolbachia Infection
A new study of genetic samples from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from around the world finds no evidence of naturally occurring infection with Wolbachia bacteria, a positive sign for efforts that artificially introduce Wolbachia to mosquito populations to reduce their numbers or interrupt their ability to transmit disease-causing pathogens.
Nutritional Symbionts: Why Some Insects Don’t Have to Eat Their Vegetables
While many animals, like humans, consume a varied diet to get their necessary nutrition, some insects can extract nourishment from a nutritionally poor food source through symbioses with microbial symbionts.
Wolbachia Bacterium Prevents Mosquitoes from Transmitting Zika and Chikungunya
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have confirmed that a benign bacterium called Wolbachia pipientis can completely block transmission of Zika virus in Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for […]
A Report from the Summit on the Aedes aegypti Crisis in the Americas in Brazil
By Richard Levine Yesterday, March 13, 2016, nearly 70 scientists, public-health officials and other participants attended the Summit on the Aedes aegypti Crisis in the Americas, a one-day meeting convened […]
Wolbachia Bacteria Can Control Mosquitoes with Fewer Chemicals
By Erin Weeks Imagine that a strain of bacteria living in your body had the power to protect you from deadly viruses, render you sterile, or even help give rise […]
West Nile Virus Enhanced by Wolbachia in Culex tarsalis Mosquito
Wolbachia, a genus of bacteria that infects insects and other arthropods, has been used in the past to control mosquitoes and to hinder their ability to spread diseases such as […]
Using Wolbachia to Control Mosquitoes
Entomologists at the University of Kentucky were recently granted a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency to begin field trials of a new mosquito control method. Professor Stephen Dobson developed […]