Dados do Trabalho

Título

A two-sex mathematical model for mosquito vector control by Wolbachia infection

Introdução

Wolbachia, an evolutionary relative of mitochondria, intracellular microbes with maternally inherited mechanisms, has the potential to reduce mosquito vector competence significantly. The mechanism of cytoplasmic incompatibility acts as a suppressive control mechanism when crossing mosquito-infected males with uninfected females. The literature suggests that suppression of the mosquito population can facilitate Wolbachia invasions. Given the high cost of field trials, our theoretical mathematical models can provide cost-effective solutions by predicting logical responses, thereby aiding in developing efficient vector control strategies.  

Objetivo (s)

This work addresses the development of a two-sex mathematical model to analyze and simulate release scenarios of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes by matching suppression and replacement strategies.

Material e Métodos

We developed a mathematical population dynamics model with two inheritance mechanisms, sex and maternal inheritance, for Wolbachia infection and recruitment and mortality density dependence. We analyze the model's qualitative behavior and numerically simulate scenarios combining suppression and replacement strategies.

Resultados e Conclusão

Numerical results show the effectiveness of interventions with Wolbachia using combined suppression and replacement strategies. According to theoretical models, the success of Wolbachia interventions is contingent on population density and external factors such as temperature. We demonstrate that an initial release of infected males can effectively suppress population size and ease the way for replacement by releasing Wolbachia-infected female mosquitoes. Using two-sex models is not just a choice but necessary for comprehensively understanding phenomena where sex-linked factors influence population dynamics.  

Palavras Chave

population dynamics model; cytoplasmic incompatibility; two-sex model; Wolbachia infection