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Updated: Apr 24, 2026
Detecting Wolbachia Strain wAlbB in Aedes albopictus Cell Lines
Published on: June 1, 2022
Modified technique of Wolbachia removal from Malaysian Aedes albopictus
Sylvia Joanne1, Indra Vythilingam1, Nava Yugavathy1
1Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia.
Objective:
To develop an artificial and modified Wolbachia removal technique using tetracycline from naturally Wolbachia infected Aedes albopictus (Ae. albopictus) so as to be able to produce generations of Wolbachia free offsprings.
Methods:
In this study, seven different tetracycline treatment methods were conducted to obtain the best removal method. Four methods focused on larvae tetracycline treatment, one method on both larvae and adult tetracycline treatment and the last two methods on adult mosquito sucrose treatment.
Results:
All larval tetracycline treatments resulted in either high larvae mortality, sterile F0 adult mosquitoes or unsuccessful Wolbachia removal. Treatment of both larvae and adults resulted in reduced larvae mortality, successful Wolbachia removal but slow mosquito fecundity. As for the adult treatment, 1.0 mg/mL as previously published was not able to completely remove Wolbachia in F1 generation whereas 1.25 mg/mL successfully removed Wolbachia from F1 and F2 mosquitoes in 2 weeks.
Conclusions:
This method is different from the previously published methods as it provides an improved Wolbachia removal technique from Ae. albopictus with high egg hatchability, low larvae mortality, increased fecundity and better Wolbachia removal rate.
