The environment
significantly influences whether or not a certain bacterium will block
mosquitoes from transmitting malaria, according to researchers at Penn
State. "Bacteria in the genus Wolbachia represent a promising new tool
for controlling malaria due to their demonstrated ability to block the
development of the pathogen within Anopheles mosquitoes -- the
mosquitoes that are responsible for the transmission of malaria
parasites in many parts of the world," said Courtney Murdock,
postdoctoral researcher, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and
Department of Entomology, Penn State. "However, much of the work on the
Wolbachia-malaria interaction has been conducted under highly simplified
laboratory conditions. In this study, we investigated the ability of
Wolbachia to block transmission of malaria -- Plasmodium -- parasites
across variable environmental conditions, which are more reflective of
conditions in the field."
The researchers used a species of malaria parasite -- Plasmodium yoelii
-- that affects rodents and the mosquito Anopheles stephensi as a model
system to investigate whether Wolbachia would block the ability of the
malaria parasite to infect the mosquitoes. The scientists divided the
mosquitoes into an uninfected control group and a group infected with
Wolbachia. Next, the team raised all groups of mosquitoes in incubators
set to different experimental temperatures -- 68, 72, 75, 79 and 82
degrees Fahrenheit.
