Forced zika virus infection of culex pipiens leads to limited virus accumulation in mosquito saliva

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that caused a large outbreak in the Americas in 2015 and 2016. The virus is currently present in tropical areas around the globe and can cause severe disease in humans, including Guillain-Barré syndrome and congenital microcephaly. The tropical yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is the main vector in the urban transmission cycles of ZIKV. The discovery of ZIKV in wild-caught Culex mosquitoes and the ability of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes to transmit ZIKV in the laboratory raised the question of whether the common house mosquito Culex pipiens, which is abundantly present in temperate regions in North America, Asia and Europe, could also be involved in ZIKV transmission. In this study, we investigated the vector competence of Cx. pipiens (biotypes molestus and pipiens) from the Netherlands for ZIKV, using Usutu virus as a control. After an infectious blood meal containing ZIKV, none of the tested mosquitoes accumulated ZIKV in the saliva, although 2% of the Cx. pipiens pipiens mosquitoes showed ZIKV-positive bodies. To test the barrier function of the mosquito midgut on virus transmission, ZIKV was forced into Cx. pipiens mosquitoes by intrathoracic injection, resulting in 74% (molestus) and 78% (pipiens) ZIKV-positive bodies. Strikingly, 14% (molestus) and 7% (pipiens) of the tested mosquitoes accumulated ZIKV in the saliva after injection. This is the first demonstration of ZIKV accumulation in the saliva of Cx. pipiens upon forced infection. Nevertheless, a strong midgut barrier restricted virus dissemination in the mosquito after oral exposure and we, therefore, consider Cx. pipiens as a highly inefficient vector for ZIKV.

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Main Authors: Abbo, Sandra R., Vogels, Chantal B.F., Visser, Tessa M., Geertsema, Corinne, Van Oers, Monique M., Koenraadt, Constantianus J.M., Pijlman, Gorben P.
Format: Article/Letter to editor biblioteca
Language:English
Subjects:Arbovirus, Culex pipiens, Flavivirus, Midgut barrier, The Netherlands, Vector competence, Zika virus,
Online Access:https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/forced-zika-virus-infection-of-culex-pipiens-leads-to-limited-vir
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spelling dig-wur-nl-wurpubs-5669012024-12-04 Abbo, Sandra R. Vogels, Chantal B.F. Visser, Tessa M. Geertsema, Corinne Van Oers, Monique M. Koenraadt, Constantianus J.M. Pijlman, Gorben P. Article/Letter to editor Viruses 12 (2020) 6 ISSN: 1999-4915 Forced zika virus infection of culex pipiens leads to limited virus accumulation in mosquito saliva 2020 Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that caused a large outbreak in the Americas in 2015 and 2016. The virus is currently present in tropical areas around the globe and can cause severe disease in humans, including Guillain-Barré syndrome and congenital microcephaly. The tropical yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is the main vector in the urban transmission cycles of ZIKV. The discovery of ZIKV in wild-caught Culex mosquitoes and the ability of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes to transmit ZIKV in the laboratory raised the question of whether the common house mosquito Culex pipiens, which is abundantly present in temperate regions in North America, Asia and Europe, could also be involved in ZIKV transmission. In this study, we investigated the vector competence of Cx. pipiens (biotypes molestus and pipiens) from the Netherlands for ZIKV, using Usutu virus as a control. After an infectious blood meal containing ZIKV, none of the tested mosquitoes accumulated ZIKV in the saliva, although 2% of the Cx. pipiens pipiens mosquitoes showed ZIKV-positive bodies. To test the barrier function of the mosquito midgut on virus transmission, ZIKV was forced into Cx. pipiens mosquitoes by intrathoracic injection, resulting in 74% (molestus) and 78% (pipiens) ZIKV-positive bodies. Strikingly, 14% (molestus) and 7% (pipiens) of the tested mosquitoes accumulated ZIKV in the saliva after injection. This is the first demonstration of ZIKV accumulation in the saliva of Cx. pipiens upon forced infection. Nevertheless, a strong midgut barrier restricted virus dissemination in the mosquito after oral exposure and we, therefore, consider Cx. pipiens as a highly inefficient vector for ZIKV. en application/pdf https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/forced-zika-virus-infection-of-culex-pipiens-leads-to-limited-vir 10.3390/v12060659 https://edepot.wur.nl/526494 Arbovirus Culex pipiens Flavivirus Midgut barrier The Netherlands Vector competence Zika virus https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Wageningen University & Research
institution WUR NL
collection DSpace
country Países bajos
countrycode NL
component Bibliográfico
access En linea
databasecode dig-wur-nl
tag biblioteca
region Europa del Oeste
libraryname WUR Library Netherlands
language English
topic Arbovirus
Culex pipiens
Flavivirus
Midgut barrier
The Netherlands
Vector competence
Zika virus
Arbovirus
Culex pipiens
Flavivirus
Midgut barrier
The Netherlands
Vector competence
Zika virus
spellingShingle Arbovirus
Culex pipiens
Flavivirus
Midgut barrier
The Netherlands
Vector competence
Zika virus
Arbovirus
Culex pipiens
Flavivirus
Midgut barrier
The Netherlands
Vector competence
Zika virus
Abbo, Sandra R.
Vogels, Chantal B.F.
Visser, Tessa M.
Geertsema, Corinne
Van Oers, Monique M.
Koenraadt, Constantianus J.M.
Pijlman, Gorben P.
Forced zika virus infection of culex pipiens leads to limited virus accumulation in mosquito saliva
description Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that caused a large outbreak in the Americas in 2015 and 2016. The virus is currently present in tropical areas around the globe and can cause severe disease in humans, including Guillain-Barré syndrome and congenital microcephaly. The tropical yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is the main vector in the urban transmission cycles of ZIKV. The discovery of ZIKV in wild-caught Culex mosquitoes and the ability of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes to transmit ZIKV in the laboratory raised the question of whether the common house mosquito Culex pipiens, which is abundantly present in temperate regions in North America, Asia and Europe, could also be involved in ZIKV transmission. In this study, we investigated the vector competence of Cx. pipiens (biotypes molestus and pipiens) from the Netherlands for ZIKV, using Usutu virus as a control. After an infectious blood meal containing ZIKV, none of the tested mosquitoes accumulated ZIKV in the saliva, although 2% of the Cx. pipiens pipiens mosquitoes showed ZIKV-positive bodies. To test the barrier function of the mosquito midgut on virus transmission, ZIKV was forced into Cx. pipiens mosquitoes by intrathoracic injection, resulting in 74% (molestus) and 78% (pipiens) ZIKV-positive bodies. Strikingly, 14% (molestus) and 7% (pipiens) of the tested mosquitoes accumulated ZIKV in the saliva after injection. This is the first demonstration of ZIKV accumulation in the saliva of Cx. pipiens upon forced infection. Nevertheless, a strong midgut barrier restricted virus dissemination in the mosquito after oral exposure and we, therefore, consider Cx. pipiens as a highly inefficient vector for ZIKV.
format Article/Letter to editor
topic_facet Arbovirus
Culex pipiens
Flavivirus
Midgut barrier
The Netherlands
Vector competence
Zika virus
author Abbo, Sandra R.
Vogels, Chantal B.F.
Visser, Tessa M.
Geertsema, Corinne
Van Oers, Monique M.
Koenraadt, Constantianus J.M.
Pijlman, Gorben P.
author_facet Abbo, Sandra R.
Vogels, Chantal B.F.
Visser, Tessa M.
Geertsema, Corinne
Van Oers, Monique M.
Koenraadt, Constantianus J.M.
Pijlman, Gorben P.
author_sort Abbo, Sandra R.
title Forced zika virus infection of culex pipiens leads to limited virus accumulation in mosquito saliva
title_short Forced zika virus infection of culex pipiens leads to limited virus accumulation in mosquito saliva
title_full Forced zika virus infection of culex pipiens leads to limited virus accumulation in mosquito saliva
title_fullStr Forced zika virus infection of culex pipiens leads to limited virus accumulation in mosquito saliva
title_full_unstemmed Forced zika virus infection of culex pipiens leads to limited virus accumulation in mosquito saliva
title_sort forced zika virus infection of culex pipiens leads to limited virus accumulation in mosquito saliva
url https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/forced-zika-virus-infection-of-culex-pipiens-leads-to-limited-vir
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