High prevalence and lack of diversity of Wolbachia pipientis in Aedes albopictus populations from Northeast Brazil

Abstract

The use of Wolbachia as a tool to control insect vectors has recently been suggested. In this context, studies on the prevalence and diversity of this bacterium in wild populations are relevant. Here, we evaluated the diversity of two Wolbachia genes (ftsZ and wsp) and the prevalence of this endosymbiont in wild Aedes albopictus. Using seminested polymerase chain reaction, our results showed that 99.3% of the individuals were superinfected with Wolbachia. In regards to genetic diversity, the two genes showed no variation within or among mosquito populations. An analysis of other Wolbachia markers may help to clarify the relationship between insect and endosymbiont.