Native microbiome of Anopheles impedes transmission of Wolbachia
In an Early Edition PNAS article published this week, Jason Rasgon and friends (with Grant Hughes as first author) publish an elegant set of experiments, the provocative results of which lead us to the conclusion: " THE MICROBIOME IS F-ING RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING" Honestly folks, is there one f-ing thing to which the microbiome does not contribute? Let's dive into this article, as it is some of the most interesting work I've seen on Wolbachia with direct relevance to their use in vector blocking. Oh, and if you want to read along (and have access to the PNAS site), here is the link to the article . Some background first. Wolbachia, the alpha-proteobacterial queen of insect reproductive manipulations, is an obligately intracellular and maternally transmitted bacterium. Various folks have been investigating it for its ability to prevent mosquitoes (and other insects) from harboring or transmitting viruses (see earlier post on this here ). Dr. Rasgon, a