Mosquitoes are among the most deadly animals in the world. Their ability to transmit diseases to humans causes millions of deaths every year. Wolbachia is a bacterium that commonly infects insects, and in mosquitoes it acts as an antiviral agent, reducing their ability to transmit the Zika and dengue viruses. This microorganism is therefore currently being used to protect people from these diseases. The results of two field trials have shown that the presence of Wolbachia bacteria in mosquitoes inhabiting a given area can lead to a significant reduction in the number of dengue cases in humans.
Despite the importance of Wolbachia in the prevention and treatment of human diseases, we still do not fully understand the mechanisms underlying its interactions with hosts. In particular, we lack a complete map of the relationships between insects, their diet, metabolism, and microorganisms. Fruit flies, as a model organism, allow us to uncover biological processes that also occur in other animals. As a result, our research on fruit flies has a strong potential for application in mosquitoes, worms, and even mammals exposed to bacterial and viral infections.

The aim of the project is to understand the nutritional and metabolic relationships between insects, the antiviral bacterium Wolbachia, and viruses.

The systematic approach applied here represents an unparalleled opportunity to characterize in detail the relationships between insects, Wolbachia, and viruses pathogenic to both insects and humans. This project will help refine current strategies for deploying this bacterium in disease prevention and treatment (for example, by designing better diets for insects intended for release into the wild and by engineering new genetically modified mosquitoes resistant to viruses), and will help identify new targets for antibacterial and antiviral drugs. This project will therefore enable scientific discoveries and contribute to improved prevention and treatment of human diseases.