Journal of Medical Entomology (2003) 40, 356-360

Peter Armbruster, William E. Damsky Jr, Rosanna Giordano, Josephine Birungi, Leonard E. Munstermann and Jan E. Conn (2003)
Infection of New- And Old-World Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) by the intracellular parasite Wolbachia: Implications for host mitochondrial DNA evolution
Journal of Medical Entomology 40 (3), 356-360
Abstract: Wolbachia are cytoplasmically inherited, endosymbiotic bacteria known to infect a wide variety of arthropods. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the Wolbachia surface protein (wsp) gene was used to assay the infection of geographically disparate populations of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) by Wolbachia. Nine North American, four South American, one Hawaiian, and four Old World populations of A. albopictus were all doubly infected with both the wAlbA and wAlbB strains of Wolbachia. A 365-bp region of the wAlbA wsp gene was sequenced from seven geographically disparate host populations, and all sequences were identical. Similarly, a 474-bp region of the wAlbB wsp gene was sequenced from the same populations, and all sequences were identical. These results suggest a role for Wolbachia infection in causing the previously established pattern of low mitochondrial DNA variability, but average nuclear gene diversity, within and among populations of A. albopictus.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Peter Armbruster, Jan E. Conn

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aedes albopictus		U.S.A. (Hawaii)