BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Symbiont-mediated protection against viruses: insights from a comp
 arative analysis of Wolbachia strains - Dr Julien Martinez\, Department of
  Genetics\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20140528T113000Z
DTEND:20140528T123000Z
UID:TALK52484@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Diane Pearce
DESCRIPTION:In the last decade\, bacterial symbionts have been shown to pl
 ay an important role in protecting their hosts against natural enemies. Wo
 lbachia\, a widespread symbiont in arthropods\, has been shown to protect 
 several Drosophila and mosquito species against viral infections and is th
 erefore a potential tool to prevent the transmission of vectored diseases 
 such as Dengue. However\, the mechanisms of protection remain unclear and 
 the distribution of the ability to protect among Wolbachia strains has bee
 n poorly investigated. I will present our latest results showing that appr
 oximately half of Wolbachia strains are able to reduce virus-induced morta
 lity\, mainly by limiting the accumulation of viruses within the insect. A
 ntiviral protection also has a broad specificity since it acts against ver
 y distantly related viruses. Overall\, our results suggest that a substant
 ial proportion of insects may benefit from such a symbiont-mediated immuni
 ty which could have major consequences on insect evolution. However\, in s
 ome cases\, protection comes with some costs on the insect fitness which m
 ay constraint the evolution of protection in nature but also decrease the 
 success of applications aiming at introducing Wolbachia into mosquito popu
 lations.
LOCATION:Library\, Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour\, Madingley
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR