Wolbachia-induced Cytoplasmic Incompatibility As a Means for Insect Pest Population Control

Overview

Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Specialty Science

Date 2004 Oct 8

PMID 15469918

Citations 158

Authors

Sofia Zabalou

Markus Riegler

Marianna Theodorakopoulou

Christian Stauffer

Charalambos Savakis

Kostas Bourtzis

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Biological control is the purposeful introduction of parasites, predators, and pathogens to reduce or suppress pest populations. Wolbachia are inherited bacteria of arthropods that have recently attracted attention for their potential as new biocontrol agents. Wolbachia manipulate host reproduction by using several strategies, one of which is cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) [Stouthamer, R., Breeuwer, J. A. J. & Hurst, G. D. D. (1999) Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 53, 71-102]. We established Wolbachia-infected lines of the medfly Ceratitis capitata using the infected cherry fruit fly Rhagoletis cerasi as donor. Wolbachia induced complete CI in the novel host. Laboratory cage populations were completely suppressed by single releases of infected males, suggesting that Wolbachia-induced CI could be used as a novel environmentally friendly tool for the control of medfly populations. The results also encourage the introduction of Wolbachia into pest and vector species of economic and hygenic relevance to suppress or modify natural populations.

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