Mutual exclusion of Asaia and Wolbachia in the reproductive organs of mosquito vectors

Wolbachia is a group of intracellular maternally inherited bacteria infecting a high number of arthropod species. Their presence in different mosquito species has been largely described, but Aedes aegypti, the main vector of Dengue virus, has never been found naturally infected by Wolbachia. Similarly, malaria vectors and other anophelines are normally negative to Wolbachia, with the exception of an African population where these bacteria have recently been detected. Asaia is an acetic acid bacterium stably associated with several mosquito species, found as a dominant microorganism of the mosquito microbiota. Asaia has been described in gut, salivary glands and in reproductive organs of adult mosquitoes in Ae. aegypti and in anophelines. It has recently been shown that Asaia may impede vertical transmission of Wolbachia in Anopheles mosquitoes. Here we present an experimental study, aimed at determining whether there is a negative interference between Asaia and Wolbachia, for the gonad niche in mosquitoes.