Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Globally invasive <jats:italic>Aedes aegypti</jats:italic> disseminate numerous arboviruses that impact human health. One promising method to control <jats:italic>Ae. aegypti</jats:italic> populations is transinfection with <jats:italic>Wolbachia pipientis</jats:italic>, which naturally infects ~40–52% of insects but not <jats:italic>Ae. aegypti</jats:italic>. Transinfection of <jats:italic>Ae. aegypti</jats:italic> with the wMel <jats:italic>Wolbachia</jats:italic> strain induces cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), allows infected individuals to invade native populations, and inhibits transmission of medically relevant arboviruses by females. Female insects undergo post-mating physiological and behavioral changes—referred to as the female post-mating response (PMR)—required for optimal fertility. PMRs are typically elicited by male seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) transferred with sperm during mating but can be modified by other factors, including microbiome composition. <jats:italic>Wolbachia</jats:italic> has modest effects on <jats:italic>Ae. aegypti</jats:italic> fertility, but its influence on other PMRs is unknown. Here, we show that <jats:italic>Wolbachia</jats:italic> influences female fecundity, fertility, and re-mating incidence and significantly extends the longevity of virgin females. Using proteomic methods to examine the seminal proteome of infected males, we found that <jats:italic>Wolbachia</jats:italic> moderately affects SFP composition. However, we identified 125 paternally transferred <jats:italic>Wolbachia</jats:italic> proteins, but the CI factor proteins (Cifs) were not among them. Our findings indicate that <jats:italic>Wolbachia</jats:italic> infection of <jats:italic>Ae. aegypti</jats:italic> alters female PMRs, potentially influencing control programs that utilize <jats:italic>Wolbachia</jats:italic>-infected individuals.</jats:p>