Wolbachia

The Wolbachia is a bacterium. It infects the arthropod species. It is a gram-negative bacterium. The scientfific name of Wolbachia bacteria is Wolbachia pipientis.

About Wolbachia

The Wolbachia are naturally present in insect species such as mosquitoes, dragonflies, fruit flies, moths. However, they are not present in the Aedes aegypti mosquito that causes dengue.

Advantages of Wolbachia

Wolbachia is a good bacterium for certain insects. The advantages of Wolbachia are as follows:

• The flies and mosquitos infected with Wolbachia bacteria are more resistant to RNA viruses such as West Nile virus, Chickungunya virus, cricket paralysis virus, flock house virus and Norovirus.
• In leafminers, the bacteria help their hosts to produce green islands. The leafminers are insects that lives and easts the leaf tissues in their larval stage. The Wolbachia bacteria help the leafminers to produce green islands on the leaves that are yellowing. This allows the larva to grow to their adult forms.
• It helps in iron metabolism in some of the insect species.
• The occurrence of Wolbachia in household mosquitos help them remain resistant to insecticides.
• The Wolbachia induce fecundity in some of their hosts. Fecundity is fertility selection. It is the fitness advantage that increase the number of offspring.

Wolbachia in humans

It plays the role of disease vector, that is, disease causing bacteria, in isopod species. They have major role in river blindness (onchocerciasis) and elephantiasis. Wolbachia also help humans by disease prevention. Wolbachia causes Crystoplasmic incompatibility in some of its hosts. Crystoplasmic incompatibility is a phenomenon that makes the eggs and sperms incapable of producing an offspring.

Wolbachia used against Dengue

In October 2021, the Indonesian scientists used Crystoplasmic incompatibility to control Dengue. The scientists have bred the Wolbachia carrying mosquitos with the dengue causing Aedes aegypti mosquito. When the Wolbachia bacteria was introduced in the male Aedes aegypti mosquito, the males became sterile. Later when the female Aedes aegypti mosquito and a sterile male were bred, their eggs failed to hatch.  With this, the mosquito population fell by 80% to 97%. Around 400 million people are affected by dengue every year according to the World Health Organisation. The method shall also be used to eradicate mosquitos carrying yellow fever virus and Zika virus.