Innovative tools are needed to alleviate the burden of mosquito-borne diseases, and strategies that target the pathogen are being considered. A possible tactic is the use of Wolbachia, a maternally inherited, endosymbiotic bacterium that can (but does not always) suppress diverse pathogens when introduced to naive mosquito species. We investigated effects of somatic Wolbachia (strain wAlbB) infection on Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) in Culex tarsalis mosquitoes. When compared to Wolbachia-uninfected mosquitoes, there was no significant effect of Wolbachia infection on RVFV infection, dissemination, or transmission frequencies, nor on viral body or saliva titers. Within Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, there was a modest negative correlation between RVFV body titers and Wolbachia density, suggesting that Wolbachia may slightly suppress RVFV in a density-dependent manner in this mosquito species. These results are contrary to previous work in the same mosquito species, showing Wolbachia-induced enhancement of West Nile virus infection rates. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of exploring the breadth of pathogen modulations induced by Wolbachia.

需要创新的工具来减轻蚊媒疾病的负担，并且正在考虑针对病原体的策略。一种可能的策略是使用Wolbachia，这是一种母本遗传的内共生细菌，当被引入到原始的蚊子物种中时可以（但并不总是）抑制多种病原体。我们调查了体性Wolbachia（株w AlbB）感染对库塔尔蚊的裂谷热病毒（RVFV）的影响。与未感染Wolbachia的蚊子相比，Wolbachia感染对RVFV感染，传播或传播频率无明显影响，对病毒体或唾液滴度无明显影响。内感染了Wolbachia的蚊子后，RVFV滴度与Wolbachia密度之间存在适度的负相关，这表明Wolbachia可能以密度依赖的方式轻微抑制RVFV。这些结果与以前在相同蚊子物种中的工作相反，表明沃尔巴克菌引起西尼罗河病毒感染率的提高。综上所述，这些结果凸显了探索由沃尔巴克氏菌引起的病原体调节的广度的重要性。