#Wolbachia

[microbes-in-hats]

Wolbachia pipientis

As many as 25-70% of insect species are suspected to be carriers of some species of Wolbachia bacteria, which can affect their reproductive capabilities in one of four ways.

One way is that in some species, Wolbachia infection is able to induce parthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction in which an embryo can form from an unfertilized egg. Certain species within the Trichogramma parasitoid wasp genus have evolved to reproduce without males thanks to Wolbachia. Males are rare in the genus, possibly due to them being killed by the same bacteria.

Wolbachia infections in some fly and mosquito species have been linked to resistance to RNA viruses such as norovirus, West Nile virus, and Drosophila C virus.

Photo credit: El Hadji Amadou Niang

[tarrot-patch]

forced feminisation

[bpod-bpod]

Fertile Relationship

The mechanisms underlying the benefit the insect- and worm-infecting bacterial species Wolbachia confers on its host's fertility revealed. Insight for honing approaches that target Wolbachia in pest biological control

Read the published research paper here

Image from work by Shelbi L. Russell and colleagues

Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in PLOS Biology, October 2023

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[zaddyazula]

the leftovers of my mgs hyperfixation really came out today wolbachia got mentioned in biology

[galtzagorri-marrazki]

ZORIONAK COVID!

2021 UDABERRIA

[ravings-of-a-mad-scientist]

How Mitochondria used to be Parasites that Created Gender

How Mitochondria used to be Parasites that Created Gender

How Mitochondria used to be Parasites that Created Gender Forward: I’ve been too busy this past week to write an article but didn’t want to be on hiatus for so long. I found this article which I wrote four or five months ago but didn’t post because the humor turned out a lot darker than what I would normally do. I dunno, mitochondria are just really based and spicy, I guess. Keep that in…

[nicolagriffith]

Infectious agents *can* encourage parthenogenetic, all-female reproduction (score one for Ammonite!)

You think the virus-induced human parthenogenesis of AMMONITE makes it science fantasy instead of science fiction? Think again! I could argue that 2 recent papers about Wolbachi and parasitic wasps demonstrate proof of concept

Two recent papers have explained how Wolbachia, a bacterium that infects parasitic wasps, ensures that most of the wasps’ offspring are parthenogenetically-inclined females. This pleases me very much because it means that maybe the virus on Jeep—the all-female planet of Ammonite1—could do what some of what I said it could do, in terms of enabling human parthenogenesis. I mean, okay, people aren’t…

[cebozcom]

La Bacteria Wolbachia: Una Aliada Contra el Dengue | CeBoz.com

La bacteria Wolbachia y su papel en la lucha contra el dengue

[baliportalnews]

Jadi Pilot Project Wolbachia, Buleleng Siap Tebar Telur Nyamuk Lawan DBD

BALIPORTALNEWS.COM, BULELENG - Kabupaten Buleleng menjadi salah satu sasaran pilot project di Bali oleh World Mosquito Program (WMP) Bali dalam program ber-Wolbachia. Terkait itu, Sekretaris Dinas Kesehatan Buleleng, Nyoman Budiastawan mengaku bahwa Buleleng siap menjalankan program itu untuk melawan wabah nyamuk demam berdarah dengue (DBD). Demikian terungkap dalam Sosialisasi Penyebaran Nyamuk ber-Wolbachia di Hotel Banyualit, Rabu (8/11/2023). Sekdis Budiastawan menyampaikan bahwasannya program ber-Wolbachia adalah metode pendukung penurunan penyebaran kasus DBD di Buleleng melalui penyebaran benih nyamuk yang memiliki bakteri alami bernama Wolbachia. “Wolbachia ini sudah diuji di Jogja dan hasilnya sangat baik. Kasus DBD turun mencapai 77% dan laporan dari rumah sakit pun juga turun hingga 87%,” ujarnya. Terkait itu, pihaknya optimis program dimaksud berhasil pula diterapkan di Buleleng, tentunya dibarengi dengan dukungan masyarakat dalam pelaksanaannya nanti pada November ini. Sementara itu, dalam paparan oleh pihak WMP Indonesia, Novita Nandika menerangkan nantinya telur nyamuk ber-Wolbachia akan ditebar ke rumah-rumah warga untuk kemudian dirawat atau menjadi orang tua asuh. Masing-masing titik penyebaran telur nyamuk diberikan satu wadah dengan jumlah 500 telur. Pihaknya menekankan bahwasanya target maksimal keberhasilan penetasan telur adalah 250 nyamuk. Nantinya nyamuk dengan bakteri Wlobachia itu akan ‘bergaul’ dengan nyamuk lokal dan berkembangbiak bersama dengan bakteri Wolbachia yang akan mengakhiri rantai wabah DBD di Buleleng.(adv/bpn) Read the full article

[eurekadiario]

Proyecto Wolbachia: 300 millones de mosquitos liberados, pero no una solución milagrosa para combatir el dengue, dice la NEA

En zonas con muchos mosquitos, los mosquitos Wolbachia no pueden competir con ellos y se verán "superados", afirma la Agencia Nacional de Medio Ambiente.

El científico principal de la NEA, Deng Lu, señala los contenedores que contienen tiras donde los mosquitos aterrizan para poner sus huevos. (Foto: CNA/Raydza Rahman)

Paso 1: producción de huevos

Los huevos de mosquito se producen en la sala del insectario para adultos y estos huevos se utilizan para la posterior producción de mosquitos macho Wolbachia.

La habitación tiene varias jaulas para mosquitos, cada una con mosquitos machos y hembras. En el fondo de la jaula hay ovipots o recipientes recolectores de huevos que contienen varias tiras de huevos y agua estancada.

A los mosquitos les gusta la textura rugosa de las tiras y se posarán sobre ellas para poner huevos, dijo Deng Lu, científico principal y jefe de la rama de producción de mosquitos.

Paso 2: Incubar huevos y contar larvas.

Un nuevo lote de huevos de mosquito Aedes portador de Wolbachia eclosiona y se convierte en larva en unas pocas horas. Luego hay que contarlos.

No existen soluciones llave en mano para la producción de mosquitos, especialmente para el recuento de larvas, afirmó Deng. Inicialmente, el equipo utilizó telecontadores y goteros, contando las larvas una por una.

Evidentemente, el proceso no fue sostenible.

Por eso el equipo desarrolló su propia máquina contadora, que puede contar 26.000 larvas en tres a cinco minutos.

Paso 3: sembrar los huevos

El siguiente paso es el proceso de siembra. Cada lote de 26.000 larvas se vierte a través de vainas de siembra y se canaliza en bandejas individuales. Luego, las bandejas se cargan en un sistema de rejillas de cría de alta densidad.

El ambiente aquí ha sido diseñado para la comodidad de las larvas de mosquitos, con humedad, temperatura y flujo de aire controlados.

El equipo es "muy preciso" en cada paso, desde el recuento de mosquitos y el estricto régimen de alimentación hasta el control de la temperatura, afirmó Deng. Esto se hace para lograr un crecimiento óptimo de los mosquitos en términos de tamaño y calidad del rendimiento, añadió.

Por ejemplo, si hay demasiada comida, la bandeja que contiene las larvas de mosquito se estrellará. Si no hay suficiente comida, las hembras de los mosquitos serán más pequeñas, lo que dificultará la diferenciación entre machos y hembras.

Las larvas de mosquito permanecen en la habitación unos siete días. El séptimo día, se cosechan para el siguiente proceso: la separación de sexos.

Paso 4: Separar a los machos de las hembras.

Después de la cosecha, las pupas se analizan en función de su tamaño para separar a los machos de las hembras. Esto se hace utilizando un escáner basado en inteligencia artificial que toma una fotografía de las pupas de muestra.

El escáner identifica las pupas según el tamaño de sus hombros o el ancho del cefalotórax; las hembras son más grandes.

El proceso continúa en la sala de clasificación por sexo, donde se necesitan entre tres y cuatro horas para generar entre 1 y 1,5 millones de mosquitos macho.

Paso 5: embalaje y transporte

Este es el paso final del ciclo de producción, donde los mosquitos se empaquetan y transportan para su liberación.

Alrededor de 200 pupas masculinas de Wolbachia se almacenan en un contenedor negro y se empaquetan en cajas de 35 contenedores cada una. Como los mosquitos todavía se encuentran en la etapa de pupa, se los deja adentro durante unos días para que se desarrollen por completo.

Luego, un oficial de campo de la NEA recoge las cajas y los mosquitos se envían a varios sitios para su liberación.

[cytgen]

Abstract Insects are one of the most successful groups of multicellular organisms with more than a million species. Among them, there is Belgica antarctica Jacobs (Diptera Chironomidae) representing an endemic species of Antarctica that exists under extremely cold conditions. A significant number of microorganisms colonize most species of insects resulting in symbiotic interaction, which may improve the adaptability of a host organism to cold conditions. Using PCR and metagenomic analysis, it has been demonstrated that endosymbiotic bacteria Spiroplasma and Wolbachia seem to be absent in Belgica antarctica. Nevertheless, 14 species of bacteria have been revealed that can be potentially associated with Belgica antarctica and/or with the substrate where this species lives by screening the whole-genome sequences available in open databases. To ascertain the constant association of identified microorganisms with Belgica antarctica and their possible preference to this species, it is necessary to perform further analysis.

Keywords: microbiome endosymbionts Wolbachia Spiroplasma

[dougielombax]

I’m starting to think that maybe the English strain parasites in MGSV were developed at G̶u̶a̶n̶t̶a̶n̶a̶m̶o̶ ̶B̶a̶y̶ Camp Omega.

I don’t have much evidence for this admittedly beyond the occasional coughing and hacking you hear at the base, Chico’s throat injury and headphone jack, but still.

The same might theoretically be said for the hospital in Cyprus, but XOF/Cipher wouldn’t attack their own or their allies.

At least not in theory.

Though that didn’t stop them from attacking the hospital in the first place. But still.

Idk. Make of that what you will.

[valentineblacker]

Let's hear it for the obligate intercellular parasite, Mitochondria! I have a lot to say about this!

[mixelation]

okay i have no idea if you are at all interested in marvel so feel free to ignore this lol. I was reading a fic the other day that made me wonder what happens to mosquitoes that suck captain america's blood, because like. serum or whatever. like, do they become horrifyingly strong? does nothing happen? which made me realize that i have no idea what mosquitoes actually do with blood. so i looked it up and i guess it's to help the female mosquitoes grow their eggs (probably could've lived without knowing that tbh). so would super soldier serum-blood make a stronger-than-average mosquito? could captain america absolutely destroy ecosystems just by existing near enough to be food for part of it? how would a serum-mosquito differ from a regular one? plus, apparently the serum amplifies Everything, including your morals or whatever. can mosquitoes have morals? i'd think the answer is no, because. they're bugs.

hm. this got out of hand. it also just occurred to me that maybe bugs are not your specialty and you don't know either fshdks.

Hmm, I'm not really up on the Lore of the super soldier serum (my working definition of "serum" is blood plasma with the clotting factor removed, but idk what Marvel means by it besides maybe "potion"). I also know and have listened to enough mosquito researchers babble that I'm confident any rumination by me on how female mosquitos metabolize and use their blood meals will end with me saying something blatantly wrong, even if I read a couple papers on it first, lmao.

But let's say super soldier serum affects mosquitos. Here's some questions to consider:

Do mosquitos even bite Steve? Can they bite him?

Could the serum be passed on to their offspring? Idk how this would work biologically but also it's unclear to me how the serum works biologically.

What is the upper strength limit of a female mosquito?

If the serum enhances "everything," will the mosquito lay more eggs? Will she bite more people? Will she be able to carry more blood before she has a hard time flying?

If a mosquito carrying Steve's blood bites another human, can the serum transfer??

Can a mosquito carrying serum also carry pathogens? Does Steve get sick? Would the serum just chew up the pathogens? Could releasing serum into mosquitos prevent them spreading disease?

I think for an ecological disaster, you'd need a LOT of super mosquitos (so, either Steve is a mosquito magnet or they can pass on the serum somehow). So don't worry about it. :) Worry about the diseases they carry. :)

[lowpolyotakuconvention]

Wolbachia are cool and all, but I still spent the entire outbreak section of mgsv screaming "NEMATODES!!!!"

[notactuallyatreefrog]

begging someone to draw a wolbachia gijinka. my sacred transgenderifying insect fuck bacteria. i love her.