Contrasting patterns of association with between field-collected and from Cameroon.

The widespread prevalence of in mosquitoes makes it a potential candidate for paratrangenic control in . To better understand whether this bacterium could be used for malaria control, we quantified in populations in malaria endemic regions examining co-infection with . Adult mosquitoes were collected across two different eco-geographical localities in Cameroon, during both the dry and wet seasons. DNA was extracted from whole individual mosquitoes, and real time-qPCR amplification of the RNA was used to quantify in both and samples. We also detected and quantified infection in the same mosquitoes. The density of was successfully quantified in a total of 864 field mosquitoes, comprising of 439 from Bankeng and 424 collected from Gounougou. Interestingly, a higher prevalence of in (88.3%) compared to (80.9%) was observed. Moreover, the density of in both species was significantly affected by seasonal changes in the two localities. Furthermore, a significant difference between the infection densities of and the infection status in the two species was recorded. However, no correlation was observed between the number of and infections. This study provides evidence that naturally occurring infection is not correlated to development within and . Nevertheless, further studies incorporating experimental infections are required to better investigate the correlation between mosquitoes, and .IMPORTANCEThe symbiont has emerged as a promising candidate for paratransgenic control of malaria, but further analysis of its biology and genetics across Africa is necessary. In this study, we investigated and quantified the influence of in naturally infected . populations with the malaria parasite . Genomic DNA was extracted from whole individual mosquitoes collected from two localities, and was quantified using real-time qPCR by amplification of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. We also detected and quantified infection in the same mosquitoes and established the correlation between and coinfection. This study provides evidence that naturally occurring infection is not correlated with development within and mosquitoes.