Figure 1.
Hatch rate and fecundity of Uju.wMel.
Egg hatch (A) and fecundity or mean number of eggs produced per female per gonotrophic cycle (B) of Uju.wMel was assessed at generation sixteen. Females were blood fed at six days post eclosion, individualized for laying, and eggs hatched after five days. Second instar larvae were counted to calculate percent hatch (A) and eggs per batch per female counted to give fecundity (B). A: Uju.wMel n = 452, UjuT n = 858, Uju.wt n = 508. B: Uju.wMel n = 16, UjuT n = 14, Uju.wt n = 20. Error bars represent the SEM.
Figure 2.
The survival over time of three Ae. albopictus lines was assessed in two or three independent replicates of cages containing approximately 100 male and 100 female mosquitoes (total of 1600 mosquitoes in eight cages). A blood meal was provided at seven days, and again every 14 days. Dead mosquitoes were counted and removed every four days. Error bars show the SEM. Male Uju.wMel longevity was significantly increased compared to UjuT and Uju.wt.
Figure 3.
Mating competitiveness of Uju.wMel males.
Competitiveness of Uju.wMel males was assessed using three independent replicates of 50 male Uju.wMel : 50 male Uju.wt (wAlbA/B) : 50 females of either Uju.wMel or Uju.wt (total of 300 females in six cages). Hatching embryos indicated a compatible cross where both male and female parents were infected with the same Wolbachia. Error bars show the SEM. No significant differences in male mating competitiveness were found between the two lines with Chi-squared analysis using a likelihood framework.
Figure 4.
Mosquitoes were allowed to feed on artificial blood meals containing virus suspension and 7 days post infection 35–50 females were used for forced salivation. Samples were titrated by focus fluorescent assay on Ae. albopictus C6/36 cells. The transmission rate was estimated as the percentage of mosquitoes with infectious saliva among tested mosquitoes (A). Saliva samples were titrated by focus fluorescent assay on C6/36 Ae. albopictus cell culture. The total number of plaques was counted and the titer was calculated as FFU/saliva (B). No significant difference was found between Uju.wt and UjuT viral titers using a Wilcoxon rank sum test.