En la naturaleza ningún individuo puede vivir de forma aislada, de tal forma que los organismos vivos se ven obligados a interactuar unos con otros. Esta necesidad ha llevado a que diferentes organismos establezcan relaciones heterogéneas para mejorar su capacidad de adaptación al medio, obteniendo así ventajas evolutivas. Estas relaciones a veces son tan intensas que a la larga los organismos pueden perder su identidad individual. Un ejemplo de estas asociaciones son las endosimbióticas, en las cuales generalmente organismos eucariotas albergan a diferentes organismos procariotas. La bacteria endosimbiótica Wolbachia pipientis es una especie descrita en 1924 por Hertig y Wolbach. Este microorganismo se puede aislar en gran variedad de organismos eucariotas, con los que mantiene diferentes vínculos. Hasta el momento solo se ha descrito esta especie con 11 serogrupos enumerados de la A a la K dentro del género Wolbachia. En este trabajo se pretende ilustrar la relación de Wolbachia pipientis con las filarias patógenas humanas y con los artrópodos, así como describir las implicaciones de esta bacteria en el tratamiento de las filariasis. Finalmente, se pretende exponer los estudios recientes que han apuntado el uso de cepas virulentas de Wolbachia pipientis creadas artificialmente que una vez inoculadas en los vectores transmisores de enfermedades desarrollan efectos negativos en estos, para lograr la erradicación de enfermedades infecciosas transmitidas por mosquitos contra las cuales, de momento, no existe tratamiento o no se ha logrado impedir su transmisibilidad.
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