Serial passage of dengue virus serotype 1 in Wolbachia-infected and wildtype mosquitoes

The Wolbachia approach is a public-health intervention that introgresses antiviral strains of Wolbachia (wMel) into Aedes aegypti mosquito populations to control dengue. Dengue virus (DENV) might evolve to overcome the antiviral effects of Wolbachia. By passaging DENV in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, this study aims to determine whether Wolbachia selects for DENV variants. Further sequencing of whole viral genomes over passage will identify DENV variants of interest that might have a selective advantage for replication in wMel-infected mosquitoes