Effect of antiviral Wolbachia strains on gene expression in Aedes aegypti-derived Aag2 cell lines.

Wolbachia is an endosymbiotic bacterium that can induce an antiviral state in Aedes aegypti. The molecular basis for Wolbachia's antiviral effects are not well understood. Here we aimed to determine the mosquito gene expression changes induced by different intracellular Wolbachia strains in Ae. aegypti-derived Aag2 cell lines. We generated cell lines stably infected with the antiviral Wolbachia strains wMel or wAlbB, or the non-antiviral strain wPip. We performed RNAseq on each of these cell lines as well as Wolbachia-free Aag2 cells. We identified mosquito genes that are differentially expressed in Aag2 cells with wMel and wAlbB compared to Wolbachia-free cells, but that were not differentially expressed in cells with wPip compared to Wolbachia-free cells. We identify these DEGs as a set of Wolbachia-modulated mosquito genes that contribute to the antiviral state.