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Molecular Detection and Genetic Identification of Wolbachia Endosymbiont in Wild-Caught Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes from Sumatera Utara, Indonesia

  • Invertebrate Microbiology
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Abstract

The genetic identity of Wolbachia endosymbiont in wild-caught Culex quinquefasciatus was determined for the first time in Indonesia. A total of 314 Cx. quinquefasciatus were examined for Wolbachia by PCR assay targeting the Wolbachia surface protein (wsp) gene. The prevalence of Wolbachia infection was detected in 29.94% of Cx. specimens (45.86% female and 8.27% male). The group-specific infection was detected with an infection rate of 0.32%, 28.98%, and 0.64% in groups A, B, and A&B, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed all Wolbachia strains from Indonesia were genetically affiliated to the supergroup A and B with the high sequence similarity of 97.9–100% and 99.7–100%, respectively. Phylogenetic relationships can be easily distinguished by neighbor-joining analysis and were congruent by maximum likelihood method. The genetic distance (GD) values of intra- and inter-group analysis indicated a lower level (GD < 0.007 for group A and GD < 0.003 for group B) within the Indonesia strains and a higher level (GD > 1.125 for group A and GD > 1.129 for group B) as compared with other Wolbachia strains. Our results provide the first genetic identification of Wolbachia endosymbiont in Cx. quinquefasciatus collected from Indonesia, and the phylogenetic analysis revealed a new discovery of group A Wolbachia in wild-caught Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the family of Lely Ophine for helping the collection of mosquitoes from Sumatera Utara, Indonesia.

Funding

This work was supported in part by grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST 109-2314-B-037-077), Taipei, Taiwan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. M.Sc. Program in Tropical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chien-Ming Shih & Li-Lian Chao

  2. Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chien-Ming Shih, Lely Ophine & Li-Lian Chao

  3. Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chien-Ming Shih

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  1. Chien-Ming Shih
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Correspondence to Li-Lian Chao.

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Shih, CM., Ophine, L. & Chao, LL. Molecular Detection and Genetic Identification of Wolbachia Endosymbiont in Wild-Caught Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes from Sumatera Utara, Indonesia. Microb Ecol 81, 1064–1074 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-020-01655-x

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