Establishment of the cytoplasmic incompatibility-inducing Wolbachia strain wMel in an important agricultural pest insect

The w Mel Wolbachia strain was known for cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI)-induction and blocking the transmission of dengue. However, it is unknown whether it can establish and induce CI in a non-dipteran host insect. Here we artificially transferred w Mel from Drosophila melanogaster into the whitefly Bemisia tabaci . Fluorescence in situ hybridisation demonstrated that w Mel had successfully transfected the new host. Reciprocal crossing was conducted with w Mel-transfected and wild-type isofemale lines, indicating that w Mel could induce a strong CI without imposing significant cost on host fecundity. We then determined the maternal transmission efficiency of w Mel in the offspring generations, showing a fluctuating trend over a period of 12 generations. We thus detected the titre of w Mel during different developmental stages and in different generations by using real-time quantitative PCR, revealing a similar fluctuating mode, but it was not significantly correlated with the dynamics of transmission efficiency. These results suggest that w Mel can be established in B.tabaci , a distantly related pest insect of agricultural importance; moreover, it can induce a strong CI phenotype in the recipient host insect, suggesting a potential for its use in biological control of B. tabaci .