Wolbachia Surface Protein (wsp) Gene Sequencing of Strains A and B in Native Aedes albopictus of Mérida, Yucatán

<i>Aedes</i> (<i>Stegomyia</i>) <i>albopictus</i> (Skuse), a mosquito vector with increasing capacity to transmit human arboviral infections worldwide, naturally harbors the intracellular bacterium <i>Wolbachia</i> spp. This relationship has been observed in native mosquito populations of <i>Ae. albopictus</i> around the world and, more recently, in Mérida, Yucatán, México (abbreviated hereafter as MID). This study provides additional evidence confirming the presence of <i>Wolbachia</i> A (wAlbA) and B (wAlbB) strains in field-collected <i>Ae. albopictus</i> of Mérida, based on <i>wsp</i> gene DNA sequencing analyses of 14 positive PCR samples. Maximum likelihood (ML) analyses of the <i>wsp</i> gene showed high nucleotide sequence homology between <i>Wolbachia</i> from Merida and the globally reported strains A and B, suggesting that these two <i>Wolbachia</i> strains have remained stable in <i>Ae. albopictus</i> over time, regardless of the geographical area. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of <i>Wolbachia</i> gene sequencing in native populations of <i>Ae. albopictus</i> in Yucatán, Mexico. Currently many <i>Aedes</i> mosquitoes (e.g., <i>Ae. aegypti</i>) harboring intracellular <i>Wolbachia</i> B bacteria are being released as part of arbovirus and mosquito control programs in Yucatan and globally. Understanding the presence and stability of <i>Wolbachia</i> strains across different <i>Aedes</i> host backgrounds is crucial to ensuring the long-term effectiveness of biological interventions aimed at controlling mosquito populations and arbovirus transmission in endemic areas.