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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Detecting Wolbachia Strain wAlbB in Aedes albopictus Cell Lines
Published on: June 1, 2022
The invasion and coexistence of competing Wolbachia strains
M J Keeling1, F M Jiggins, J M Read
1Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Rd., Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. m.j.keeling@warwick.ac.uk
Abstract:
Cytoplasmic incompatibility between arthropods infected with different strains of Wolbachia has been proposed as an important mechanism for speciation. However, a basic requirement for this mechanism is the coexistence of different strains in neighbouring populations. Here we test whether this required coexistence is possible in a spatial context. Continuous-time models for the behaviour of one and two strains of Wolbachia within a single well-mixed population demonstrate the Allee effect and founder control, such that one strain is always driven extinct. In contrast, discretised spatial models show patchy persistence of the two strains although coexistence within the same habitat is rare. A simplified model of such founder control suggests that it is fragmentation of (or barriers within) the habitat rather than space itself that leads to persistence.
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