
- Jonathan Swift

January 21, 2010

January 21 - Dirofilaria immitis


Image from this website.


  1. Can immitis survive absent Wolbachia? What's the nature of the endosymbiosis? What beneficial effect (antiviral or otherwise) does Wolbachia exert that allows it to insinuate itself so readily in so many species?

  2. Yes, D. immitis can survive without Wolbachia. Some studies have shown that the bacteria may contribute to the pathology of the heartworm in dogs, however. Similar results are now known from some of the Wolbachia-infected human filarial worms as well. For lots more information, I suggest this recent review done by Jack Werren and colleagues.

  3. Thanks for the link, Sue! But I don't think the article's available to the public :-(

  4. No, it is not published in an open-access journal.

  5. Jack Werren's website has a lot of info and some links to publications, including one to his older review on Wolbachia.