Systematic Review of Wolbachia Symbiont Detection in Mosquitoes: An Entangled Topic about Methodological Power and True Symbiosis

Wolbachia is an endosymbiotic bacterium that naturally infects several arthropods and nematode species. Wolbachia gained particular attention due to its impact on their host fitness and the capacity of specific Wolbachia strains in reducing pathogen vector and agricultural pest populations and pathogens transmission. Despite the success of mosquito/pathogen control programs using Wolbachia-infected mosquito release, little is known about the abundance and distribution of Wolbachia in most mosquito species, a crucial knowledge for planning and deployment of mosquito control programs and that can further improve our basic biology understanding of Wolbachia and host relationships. In this systematic review, Wolbachia was detected in only 30% of the mosquito species investigated. Fourteen percent of the species were considered positive by some studies and negative by others in different geographical regions, suggesting a variable infection rate and/or limitations of the Wolbachia detection methods employed. Eighty-three percent of the studies screened Wolbachia with only one technique. Our findings highlight that the assessment of Wolbachia using a single approach limited the inference of true Wolbachia infection in most of the studied species and that researchers should carefully choose complementary methodologies and consider different Wolbachia-mosquito population dynamics that may be a source of bias to ascertain the correct infectious status of the host species.

Automated summary

Wolbachia is a symbiotic bacterium that infects several arthropods and nematodes. Although it has shown success in controlling pathogens in mosquito populations, its abundance and distribution in most mosquito species remain poorly understood. Multiple detection methods and consideration of population dynamics are necessary to accurately assess Wolbachia infection status in host species.