Transmission of Venezuelan Equine Encephalomyelitis Virus by Strains of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) Collected in North and South America
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Experimental studies were undertaken to ascertain the vector potential of North American (Houston and Alsace) and South American (Sao Paulo and Santa Teresa) strains of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) for an epizootic (Trinidad donkey) strain of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus. Infection rates were similar in all four strains of Ae. albopictus tested after ingestion of VEE virus from a viremic hamster. Virus disseminated from the midgut to the hemocoel in about 80% of infected mosquitoes, regardless of the dose ingested (10(4.6) to 10(5.7) plaque-forming units per mosquito) or the time of extrinsic incubation (7-35 d). Although all four strains of this mosquito transmitted VEE virus by bite to hamsters, transmission rates were significantly higher for the South American strains (24%, 40 of 170) than for the North American strains (5%, 9 of 165). Although VEE virus has never been isolated from Ae. albopictus, the introduction of this species into the Americas may allow it to serve as an amplification vector in areas where epizootic strains of VEE are found or introduced.Keywords:
Aedes albopictus
Epizootic
Togaviridae
The re-emergence of chikungunya (CHIK) fever in Thailand has been caused by a novel lineage of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) termed the Indian Ocean Lineage (IOL). The Aedes albopictus mosquito is thought to be a primary vector of CHIK fever in Thailand, whereas Ae. aegypti acts as a secondary vector of the virus. The vertical transmission is believed to be a primary means to maintain CHIKV in nature and may be associated with an increased risk of outbreak. Therefore, the goal of this study was to analyze the potential of these two Thai mosquito species to transmit the virus vertically and to determine the number of successive mosquito generations for the virus transmission. Two-hundred-and-fifty female Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes were artificially fed a mixture of human blood and CHIKV IOL. Mosquito larvae and adults were sampled and screened for CHIKV by one-step qRT-PCR. LLC-MK2 cell line was used to isolate CHIKV in the mosquitoes each generation. The virus isolate was identified by immunocytochemical staining and was confirmed by sequencing. Both mosquito species fed on human blood without CHIKV and uninfected LLC-MK2 cells were used as controls. Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes were able to transmit CHIKV vertically to F5 and F6 progenies, respectively. The virus isolated from the two mosquito species caused cytopathic effect in LLC-MK2 cells by 2 days post-infection and immunocytochemical staining showed the reaction between CHIKV IOL antigen and specific monoclonal antibody in the infected cells. DNA sequence confirmed the virus transmitted vertically as CHIKV IOL with E1-A226V mutation. No CHIKV infection was observed in both mosquito species and LLC-MK2 cells from control groups. The study demonstrated that Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes from Thailand are capable of transmitting CHIKV IOL vertically in the laboratory. Our results showed that Ae. albopictus is more susceptible and has a greater ability to transmit the virus vertically than Ae. aegypti. This knowledge would be useful for risk assessments of the maintenance of CHIKV in nature, which is crucial for disease surveillance, vector control and the prevention of potential CHIKV epidemics.
Aedes albopictus
Entomology
Parasitology
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Experimental studies were undertaken to ascertain the vector potential of North American (Houston and Alsace) and South American (Sao Paulo and Santa Teresa) strains of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) for an epizootic (Trinidad donkey) strain of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus. Infection rates were similar in all four strains of Ae. albopictus tested after ingestion of VEE virus from a viremic hamster. Virus disseminated from the midgut to the hemocoel in about 80% of infected mosquitoes, regardless of the dose ingested (10(4.6) to 10(5.7) plaque-forming units per mosquito) or the time of extrinsic incubation (7-35 d). Although all four strains of this mosquito transmitted VEE virus by bite to hamsters, transmission rates were significantly higher for the South American strains (24%, 40 of 170) than for the North American strains (5%, 9 of 165). Although VEE virus has never been isolated from Ae. albopictus, the introduction of this species into the Americas may allow it to serve as an amplification vector in areas where epizootic strains of VEE are found or introduced.
Aedes albopictus
Epizootic
Togaviridae
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The alphaviruses o'nyong nyong virus (ONNV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) provide a unique system to study the viral genes involved in vector specificity. ONNV infects both anopheline and culicine mosquitoes, whereas CHIKV infects only culicine mosquitoes. In this study, chimeric viruses were constructed that contained genes from both ONNV and CHIKV. These chimeras and previously described full-length infectious clones of ONNV and CHIKV were evaluated in Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Virus derived from the infectious clones of ONNV and CHIKV retained the vector specificity of the parental viruses. All six of the chimeras were found to infect Ae. aegypti mosquitoes at high rates but only the chimera containing viral genes encoding all of the structural proteins of ONNV was able to infect An. gambiae mosquitoes. These data indicate that all of the viral structural proteins are necessary for ONNV to infect An. gambiae mosquitoes.
Anopheles gambiae
Togaviridae
Culex tritaeniorhynchus
Chimera (genetics)
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In the growth kinetics analysis of flaviviruses in Aedes albopictus C6/36 cell lines obtained from the Japanese Collection of Research Bioresources (JCRB) Cell Bank and the European Collection of Authenticated Cell Culture (ECACC), these two cells line showed different viral susceptibility for Zika virus (ZIKV), Dengue virus (DENV), and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). Next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis revealed that the C6/36 JCRB strain was persistently infected with two viruses without showing any cytopathic effects. The complete sequence analysis demonstrated that the one virus was Menghai rhabdovirus (MERV), which has been found from Aedes albopictus mosquito. The other virus was a novel virus, designated as Shinobi tetravirus (SHTV). Interestingly, the viral susceptibility of these two strains was almost even for Sindbis virus and Getah virus. We cloned SHTV and MERV from JCRB C6/36 cell line and then re-infected them into another C6/36 cell line, resulting in the reproduction of persistent infection with each virus. ZIKV growth was suppressed in SHTV and/or MERV re-infected C6/36 cells also. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that persistent infection with rhabdovirus and/or permutotetravirus suppressed flavivirus replication in mosquito cells.
Aedes albopictus
Sindbis virus
Zika Virus
Flavivirus
Alphavirus infection
Cytopathic effect
Togaviridae
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Defective viral genomes (DVGs) are truncated and/or rearranged viral genomes produced during virus replication. Described in many RNA virus families, some of them have interfering activity on their parental virus and/or strong immunostimulatory potential, and are being considered in antiviral approaches. Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirus transmitted by Aedes spp . that infected millions of humans in the last 15 years. Here, we describe the DVGs arising during CHIKV infection in vitro in mammalian and mosquito cells, and in vivo in experimentally infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. We combined experimental and computational approaches to select DVG candidates most likely to have inhibitory activity and showed that, indeed, they strongly interfere with CHIKV replication both in mammalian and mosquito cells. We further demonstrated that some DVGs present broad-spectrum activity, inhibiting several CHIKV strains and other alphaviruses. Finally, we showed that pre-treating Aedes aegypti with DVGs prevented viral dissemination in vivo .
Sindbis virus
Togaviridae
RNA virus
Aedes albopictus
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Aedes albopictus
Togaviridae
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Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito transmitted alphavirus that recently caused several large scale outbreaks/epidemics of arthritic disease in tropics of Africa, Indian Ocean basin and South-East Asia. This re-emergence event was facilitated by genetic adaptation (E1-A226V substitution) of CHIKV to a newly significant mosquito vector for this virus; Aedes albopictus. However, the molecular mechanism explaining the positive effect of the E1-A226V mutation on CHIKV fitness in this vector remains largely unknown. Previously we demonstrated that the E1-A226V substitution is also associated with attenuated CHIKV growth in cells depleted by cholesterol. In this study, using a panel of CHIKV clones that varies in sensitivity to cholesterol, we investigated the possible relationship between cholesterol dependence and Ae. albopictus infectivity. We demonstrated that there is no clear mechanistic correlation between these two phenotypes. We also showed that the E1-A226V mutation increases the pH dependence of the CHIKV fusion reaction; however, subsequent genetic analysis failed to support an association between CHIKV dependency on lower pH, and mosquito infectivity phenotypes. the E1-A226V mutation probably acts at different steps of the CHIKV life cycle, affecting multiple functions of the virus.
Aedes albopictus
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Aedes albopictus (mosquito) cells persistently infected with Semliki Forest virus released an agent which inhibited virus production by A. albopictus cells infected with homologous virus. Inhibition of virus production was accompanied by a marked reduction in the synthesis of viral RNA and viral proteins. Expression of the antiviral effect was prevented by pretreatment of cells with actinomycin. No analogous antiviral activity was detected in culture fluids of A. albopictus cells persistently infected with a flavivirus (Kunjin virus) or a bunyavirus (Bunyamwera virus).
Semliki Forest virus
Aedes albopictus
Sindbis virus
Flavivirus
Togaviridae
Alphavirus infection
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Aedes albopictus
Alphavirus infection
Sindbis virus
Togaviridae
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Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arbovirus (genus Alphavirus, family Togaviridae) that has recently caused disease outbreaks in the Indian Ocean basin and southern Europe. These outbreaks could be associated with a possible shift in primary vector from Aedes aegypti to Ae. albopictus. To evaluate vector competence differences in possible CHIKV vectors, we evaluated the dose-dependant susceptibility of Florida strains of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti for infection with a La Réunion island strain of CHIKV. Pledget and water-jacketed membrane feeding systems were also evaluated. We show that both Aedes spp. were susceptible to the highest CHIKV doses, whereas only Ae. albopictus developed disseminated infections after exposure to the two lowest doses. Infection rates for both mosquito species were significantly affected by the bloodmeal delivery method used. This information is important in assessing risk of an outbreak of imported CHIKV in the United States, in determining differences in vectorial capacity of these two vector species, and in evaluating arbovirus delivery methods in the laboratory.
Aedes albopictus
Togaviridae
Alphavirus infection
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Citations (66)