Wolbachia
Wolbachia are Alphaproteobacteria that infect the cells of most arthropods, and also nematodes, making these endosymbionts the most common in nature. Wolbachia are closely related to Rickettsia and other obligate intracellular bacteria. Wolbachia infected moms vertically transmit Wolbachia to their offspring, and this vertical transmission favors coevolution of hosts and Wolbachia towards mutualism—when Wolbachia help mom they help themselves.
We do not generally understand how host lineages acquire Wolbachia infections or the mechanisms by which Wolbachia spread from low frequencies within host populations. This knowledge is crucial for improving the efficacy of Wolbachia biocontrol, which relies on efficiently spreading Wolbachia that naturally infect Drosophila flies through populations of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes —once established these Wolbachia block viruses that cause human disease (particularly dengue and now Zika). Our lab seeks to understand the basic biology of Wolbachia spread in Drosophila systems to ultimately inform this applied work in mosquitoes.
We do not generally understand how host lineages acquire Wolbachia infections or the mechanisms by which Wolbachia spread from low frequencies within host populations. This knowledge is crucial for improving the efficacy of Wolbachia biocontrol, which relies on efficiently spreading Wolbachia that naturally infect Drosophila flies through populations of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes —once established these Wolbachia block viruses that cause human disease (particularly dengue and now Zika). Our lab seeks to understand the basic biology of Wolbachia spread in Drosophila systems to ultimately inform this applied work in mosquitoes.