Rapid and Non-destructive Detection and Identification of Two Strains of Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016 Jun 30;10(6):e0004759. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004759. eCollection 2016 Jun.

Abstract

The release of Wolbachia infected mosquitoes is likely to form a key component of disease control strategies in the near future. We investigated the potential of using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to simultaneously detect and identify two strains of Wolbachia pipientis (wMelPop and wMel) in male and female laboratory-reared Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Our aim is to find faster, cheaper alternatives for monitoring those releases than the molecular diagnostic techniques that are currently in use. Our findings indicate that NIRS can differentiate females and males infected with wMelPop from uninfected wild type samples with an accuracy of 96% (N = 299) and 87.5% (N = 377), respectively. Similarly, females and males infected with wMel were differentiated from uninfected wild type samples with accuracies of 92% (N = 352) and 89% (N = 444). NIRS could differentiate wMelPop and wMel transinfected females with an accuracy of 96.6% (N = 442) and males with an accuracy of 84.5% (N = 443). This non-destructive technique is faster than the standard polymerase chain reaction diagnostic techniques. After the purchase of a NIRS spectrometer, the technique requires little sample processing and does not consume any reagents.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aedes / microbiology*
  • Animals
  • Female
  • Host-Parasite Interactions
  • Male
  • Mosquito Control
  • Mosquito Vectors / microbiology*
  • Regression Analysis
  • Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / methods*
  • Time Factors
  • Wolbachia / classification*
  • Wolbachia / isolation & purification*
  • Wolbachia / physiology

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Grand Challenges Canada Stars for Global Health funded by the Government of Canada (grant 0439-001) awarded to MTSL and the Mosquito and Arbovirus Research Committee, Queensland, Australia. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.