Data from: Environmental concentrations of antibiotics may diminish Wolbachia infections in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti (L.) mosquitoes for control of dengue
transmission are being released experimentally in tropical regions of
Australia, south-east Asia, and South America. To become established, the
Wolbachia Hertig (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) strains used must induce
expression of cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) in matings between infected
males and uninfected females so that infected females have a reproductive
advantage, which will drive the infection through field populations.
Wolbachia is a Rickettsia-like alphaproteobacterium which can be affected
by tetracycline antibiotics. We investigated whether exposure of
Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes to chlortetracycline at environmentally
relevant levels during their aquatic development resulted in loss or
reduction of infection in three strains, wAlbB, wMel, and wMelPop.
Wolbachia density was reduced for all three strains at the tested
chlortetracycline concentrations of 5 and 50 µg/liter. Two of the strains,
wMel and wMelPop, showed a breakdown in CI. The wAlbB strain maintained CI
and may be useful at breeding sites where tetracycline contamination has
occurred. This may include drier regions where Ae. aegypti can utilize
subterranean water sources and septic tanks as breeding sites.