Sains Malaysiana 51(1)(2022): 27-38

http://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2022-5101-03

Super- or Single Infection: Wolbachia Supergrouping of Wild Mosquito Populations from Varied Location Types in Peninsular Malaysia

(Jangkitan Super atau Tunggal: Superkumpulan Wolbachia Populasi Nyamuk Liar dari Pelbagai Jenis Lokasi di Semenanjung Malaysia)

NOOR SHAZLEEN HUSNIE MOHD MOHTAR¹, EMELIA OSMAN¹, MOHD FARIHAN MD YATIM² & AISHAH HANI AZIL¹*

¹Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

²Institute for Public Health, Centre for Communicable Diseases Research, National Institutes of Health

Ministry of Health, 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Received: 1 December 2020/Accepted: 2 May 2021

ABSTRACT

Wolbachia has the ability to cause reproductive abnormalities in infected hosts including cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). CI is activated when there are multiple Wolbachia supergroups or strains infection present in insect populations. Wolbachia-transinfected mosquitoes have been used widely in some countries as a biological control agent. In order to ensure a successful Wolbachia establishment, it is important to determine the diversity of natural Wolbachia present in the wild mosquito populations. The adults and immature stages of mosquitoes were collected from urban, suburban and rural areas and were reared into adults and identified to species before being subjected to molecular analysis. We found that 22% out of 222 males and 34.6% of 543 females tested were carrying Wolbachia based on PCR amplification of the Wolbachia 16S rDNA genes technique. PCR digestion for Wolbachia supergrouping showed that most of the Ae. albopictus were superinfected with Wolbachia (52.41%), whereas 21% and 28% of the positive samples were singly infected with supergroup A and B, respectively. There is an indication that prevalence of Wolbachia varies between mosquito populations in different areas. However, further studies to incorporate both PCR amplication of the Wolbachia 16S rDNA and wsp genes with bigger sample size should be performed to measure exact infection of Wolbachia in Malaysia. The baseline data on diversity of Wolbachia supergroups is expected to facilitate Wolbachia strategy by helping us to better understand the patterns and impact of the bacteria’s transmission in the environment.

Keywords: 16S rDNA; Culicidae; PCR digestion; Wolbachia supergroup

ABSTRAK

Wolbachia berkebolehan menyebabkan keabnormalan reproduktif kepada perumah yang dijangkitinya, antaranya ketidakserasian sitoplasma (CI). CI diaktifkan apabila terdapat kepelbagaian jangkitan daripada superkumpulan atau strain Wolbachia yang hadir di dalam sesuatu populasi. Nyamuk transjangkitan Wolbachia ini telah digunakan secara meluas di sesetengah negara sebagai agen kawalan biologi. Namun bagi memastikan keberjayaan Wolbachia untuk bermandiri, adalah penting untuk mengenal pasti kepelbagaian Wolbachia yang hadir secara semula jadi di dalam populasi nyamuk liar. Nyamuk peringkat dewasa dan pra-matang disampel daripada kawasan bandar, pinggir bandar dan pedalaman yang kemudiannya dibiak sehingga dewasa dan spesiesnya dikenal pasti sebelum diteruskan dengan analisa molekular. Berdasarkan kaedah amplifikasi PCR yang menyasarkan gen 16S rDNA, kajian mendapati 22% daripada 222 nyamuk jantan dan 34.6% daripada 543 betina membawa Wolbachia. Pencernaan produk PCR dilakukan bagi menentukan super-kumpulan Wolbachia dan hasilnya majoriti Aedes albopictus dijangkiti Wolbachia daripada kedua-dua superkumpulan A dan B (52.41%) manakala 21% dan 28% daripadanya masing-masing terjangkit secara tunggal, superkumpulan A dan B. Ini menandakan taburan kumpulan Wolbachia adalah berbeza antara populasi nyamuk di kawasan yang berbeza. Namun, kajian lanjutan yang melibatkan sampel saiz yang lebih besar serta gabungan penggunaan dua gen Wolbachia 16S rDNA dan wsp amat diperlukan bagi mengukur kadar jangkitan Wolbachia di Malaysia. Data garis dasar mengenai kepelbagaian superkumpulan Wolbachia yang hadir dijangka dapat membantu mempermudahkan untuk memahami taburannya dan kesan penyebarannya pada persekitaran.

Kata kunci: 16S rDNA gen; Culicidae; pencernaan PCR; superkumpulan Wolbachia

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*Corresponding author; email: aishah.azil@ppukm.ukm.edu.my